Behind The Mask
by serenadreams
Summary: AH/AU Their parents are in love, and Elena is forced to live under the same roof as the infamous Damon Salvatore. Can she unbury something in him that even he has forgotten existed?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

Elena sat on her bed scowling around at the cardboard boxes that held all of her belongings. She didn't want to move, she had grown up in this house; it was her home. What made it even worse was where she was moving; the Salvatore boarding house... as in the creepiest house in town.

Everyone knew about Giuseppe Salvatore and his lawless son, Damon. Mr. Salvatore was the richest man for miles, he was charming and polite but everyone knew not to cross him. He was extremely powerful, and one word against him could result in a lifetime of regretting it.

Despite all of this, he was a kind man and her mother had fallen in love with him. Elena had been cautious of the relationship at first, aware of his reputation, but her mother, Miranda, had assured her that underneath the front he put on for the world, there was a man worth loving.

And so here she was, packing up her childhood bedroom and preparing to move in with her mother's new boyfriend and his son. Damon. She had never met Damon, despite their parents dating for over a year. He often traveled, or was attending to business elsewhere. And when he was in town, he didn't exactly move in the same circles as Elena so they hadn't run into each other. Giuseppe had changed the subject whenever she had tried to talk about Damon and so eventually she had learned to keep her mouth shut.

Damon, if possible, had even more of a reputation in town than his father. He was gorgeous, the sort of good looking that you never got tired of looking at, or so people said anyway. He was a ladies man; he could get a girl to do whatever he wanted with a simple look. He would bat his beautiful eyes and twitch his lips into a devilish smirk and have any girl he wanted falling into his bed. Of course these were just stories, made up by bored schoolgirls.

Like his father, people were cautious of him. He was dangerous. Everyone knew that. There plenty were stories of his escapades in various illegal activities, none of them ever proven of course.

Miranda had scolded her when she had voiced her concerns of living in the same house as him. She had told her she shouldn't listen to rumors. It was probably true, Elena knew from experience that rumors rarely held any truth; they were simply designed to provide good dinner conversation.

"Elena!"

She looked up to see her mother standing in the doorway.

"Honey, we have to go. The removals are here, are you ready?" She asked.

Elena looked around at the neatly packed boxes and bare room.

"Yes." She replied softly.

"Well let's get out of here so the men can load up."

Miranda lead the way downstairs and Elena took one look at her old bedroom before grabbing her purse and following her.

* * *

><p>They drove the narrow road to the Salvatore boarding house and parked outside. Elena had been here several times before, and she knew which room was going to be hers so she walked towards the house without waiting for her mother.<p>

She opened the large front door, which was never locked, and traipsed up stairs, she found her way to the large white room that had been assigned to her. She slumped onto the double bed and kicked her sneakers off, letting them fall to the floor. It was a beautiful house, and her old room could fit into this one at least three times, but she didn't want to live here. Ever since her dad had died she had felt strangely disconnected from her life and now she was leaving behind something else that she had grown up with.

She sighed and stared up at the white washed ceiling, she knew she was being self-absorbed and ungrateful, her mother had been miserable after the accident. When she was around Giuseppe she almost looked like her old self again. That was the only reason Elena was putting up with this, for her mother's happiness, if anyone deserved a good life it was Miranda, she deserved to be happy.

A little while later, her things arrived and were delivered to her room. She spent the afternoon unpacking and moping.

There was a knock on the door and she smiled when she saw her mom.

"Hey." She murmured.

Miranda walked over to her and stroked her hair, looking around at the room.

"I like what you've done." She said.

Elena shrugged.

"It needs some paint."

Miranda nodded.

"Well, I'm sure if you asked Giuseppe…"

"It's fine." Elena said quickly, cutting her off.

There was a pause and Miranda smiled briefly, turning towards the door.

"Giuseppe and I are going out for dinner. Do you think you'll be ok here?" She asked.

Elena grit her teeth as she nodded.

"Whatever." She muttered.

Miranda sighed and left.

* * *

><p>Thinking she might as well take advantage of the fact that she was alone in the house, Elena decided to explore. She crept into the hallway and down the stairs, taking a right at the bottom instead of the usual left that lead to the door. She wondered through the dark corridors, poking her head into various rooms before closing the doors behind her and moving on. She reached a large mahogany door and pushed it open, gasping as she took in the room beyond. It was a library, leather bound books were on shelves that reached the ceiling and there was that delicious smell of old paper that she had always loved.<p>

Elena adored books, she always had. She was that girl who would prefer to curl up in a corner with her beaten up copy of Gone With The Wind than watch 90210 with her friends. This room was heaven for her.

She let her fingers trail along the backs of the books as she drifted through the library, she recognized a lot of the titles but some of them were new to her. She felt a smile creep across her lips, maybe living here wouldn't be so bad after all.

A creek of a floorboard pulled her out of her trance and her eyes flew to the door. Heavy footsteps drew closer and she froze, her heart beating wildly out of her chest. She wasn't sure how Giuseppe would like her snooping through his house.

Acting on instinct she ducked behind one of the stacks and shifted her weight nervously, biting her nails. The door opened and she heard a heavy sigh. And then the sounds of someone moving around the room. She stared around her in panic and her eyes fell on a cupboard set into the wall. It was just big enough for her small frame. Trying to be as quiet as possible she opened the door and sat inside with her knees pulled up to her chest. She pulled the door shut behind her and began to wonder what she was doing; she lived in this house now. She had every right to explore; she didn't have to hide in a cupboard.

She considered just getting up and walking out but now that she was here, sitting in the dark, she found herself feeling secure in the confines of the small space.

She gasped as the door flew open flooding her with light. She blinked against the sudden brightness and instinctively pulled her knees further into her chest.

"Having fun in there?" A calm voice asked.

It was rough and masculine with a lilt of amusement.

She blinked again and as she adjusted to the light she looked up and her breath froze in her throat.

She was staring into the most gorgeous pair of eyes she had ever seen.

* * *

><p><strong>I've never written an AUAH fic so tell me what you think! This is a request for [96]**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

><p>A man with dark raven hair and an amused smirk was looking down at her, an eyebrow raised. She swallowed compulsively and stared at him with wide eyes. He was gorgeous, easily the best-looking man she had ever seen. With his messed up hair and leather jacket he was the epitome of sex.<p>

"And who might you be?" He asked, his voice was friendly but there was an edge of something she couldn't quite identify.

She smiled sheepishly as she climbed out of her hiding place, nervously smoothing down her clothes.

"Elena Gilbert." She said in a small voice, reaching her hand out.

Understanding swept across his face and he took her hand in his, smoothly bringing it to his lips and kissing it lightly. She willed herself not to blush.

"Ah, the daughter of my father's new woman, I believe?"

The expression on his face was pleasant, open and charming but Elena could see beyond the surface. She could see the hardness in his eyes, the way the muscle in his jaw clenched at the mention of his father. She could see the threat this man imposed, the clear warning that he seemed to exude. The rumors were true; he was trouble.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Elena, I'm Damon."

Dangerous or not, he was enthralling.

"May I ask what you were doing sitting in a cupboard?" His lips twitched into a smirk and he looked at her in a way that was making her stomach flip flop crazily. She scolded herself for being so affected by his appearance and forced herself to focus.

She smiled again, slightly stiffly, the awkwardness of their meeting not lost on her.

"I was just…uh…I was…" She stumbled over her words, not quite sure what excuse would be feasible enough to explain why she was sitting but herself in a dark cupboard in his father's library.

He smiled that cold smile again and fixed her with his brilliant eyes.

Damn him for making her squirm like this, she thought angrily. He could just let her go, but it was obvious that he was rather enjoying her discomfort.

"I thought the house was empty. When I heard you I thought it could be a burglar." She lied.

"Ah." He said.

Outwardly he seemed to accept her explanation. But she could see he didn't believe it for a second.

"Well Elena, I don't want to keep you from…whatever it is that you are doing." He said smoothly, before giving her a nod before turning away.

Elena was left standing alone in the large library feeling slightly dazed and extremely humiliated.

* * *

><p>Elena watched as Caroline scouted the grill for anyone worth gossiping about. Bonnie rolled her eyes and went to order more milkshakes, leaving Elena alone at the booth. The three friends had arranged this meeting to chat and try to catch up; they had drifted apart since the accident. So far it hadn't been going well, conversation had been awkward and stilted.<p>

Elena sighed and leant back against the seat. She knew she had withdrawn since her father died. But it was easier this way, she preferred not engaging with everyone, keeping to herself. It meant she didn't get hurt so easily.

Caroline danced back over to their table and elegantly folded herself into the seat opposite her.

"So how's living at the Salvatore's?" She giggled, obviously having found no one else gossip worthy.

Elena attempted a smile.

"It's great. My room's really nice." She said half-heartedly.

Caroline looked sympathetic for a moment before a huge grin lit her face.

"Have you met Damon yet?" She asked, making no effort to hide her enthusiasm.

Elena nodded, her thoughts drifting back to the dark haired man she had met that morning.

"Yeah."

Caroline squealed and clutched at the table, staring at Elena, anxiously waiting for more information.

"So…is he like they say he is?" She asked.

Elena shrugged.

"I don't really know…" She mused.

Her friend sighed at her lack of excitement.

"I saw him once you know. We didn't talk or anything but man is he hot!"

Bonnie rejoined them, three milkshakes balanced precariously in her arms.

"What are you guys chatting about?" She asked with a smile, setting the shakes on the table and sitting next to Caroline.

"Damon Salvatore."

Bonnie's face darkened.

"Has he tried anything with you?" She spat, her eyes fixed on Elena.

She quickly shook her head, unused to seeing such anger on her friend's face.

"Oh come _on _Bon, lighten up." Caroline sighed.

"He's trouble Caroline. I hate that Elena's living with him."

"Don't worry, I don't think he'll be around much." Elena assured them, stirring her strawberry shake distractedly.

"Where does he disappear off to anyway?" Bonnie asked.

Elena shrugged.

"No one knows…" Caroline murmured, her eyes darkening with the excitement of a mystery.

Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"I think he just has business out of town." Elena said.

"Isn't he a bit young to have 'business'?" Bonnie said, her dislike again poorly concealed.

"He's like twenty." Caroline piped up.

Elena let the two bicker, keeping quiet and sipping at her drink. It was interesting to learn more about the man who's house she was living in, but she wasn't sure what was rumor and what was fact. She didn't want to judge him until she had seen his actions for himself. She wondered why he still lived in the boarding house when he was in his twenties, but she didn't voice her question, knowing that her friends would only bombard her with a series of conspiracy theories.

* * *

><p>A while later Elena excused herself and left the two girls to their gossip. She slipped out of the grill and was surprised to see that it had gotten dark. She glanced at her watch and groaned at the time. Miranda had been expecting her home an hour ago, they were going to do some big family dinner; she had some fantasy about all of them bonding and becoming some big happy family.<p>

Elena sighed and walked to her car, her thoughts far from her reality.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

><p>Elena sat in awkward silence; Miranda and Giuseppe were opposite her, two sets of eyes watching as she ate. Damon was nowhere to be seen, but when Miranda had tried to question Giuseppe, he had, as usual, shrugged it off and changed the subject.<p>

Honestly, Elena was slightly relieved he wasn't there. The dinner was tense as it was, and she had a feeling that Damon held the power to make things a lot more uncomfortable for her if he so desired.

"So what did you do today?" Her mother asked.

Elena looked across at her; she was waiting for an answer, smiling politely. They had been close before Giuseppe came along, they told each other everything, they were best friends. But now they were strangers. Strangers forced to make polite conversation around a dinner table set with crystal glasses.

Elena swallowed the lump in her throat, she knew she would adjust to the changes eventually, but at that moment she had never felt more alienated.

"I went to the Grill with Caroline and Bonnie." She answered quietly.

She scraped her fork across her plate, creating tracks through a pile of rice. Miranda cleared her throat and Elena sighed, setting the utensil down neatly on the table.

"How do you like your room Elena?" Giuseppe asked.

She forced a smile.

"It's beautiful, thank you sir." She murmured.

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her response.

They heard the front door open and slam closed before the sound of a girl's airheaded giggle reached their ears.

Damon stumbled past the door to the dining room, a scantily clad blonde girl draped around him. He paused and glanced at the three people seated around the table. Giuseppe's face was stony, Miranda's shocked, Elena's vaguely disapproving.

He smirked.

"Sorry, I won't be able to make dinner, I have…more urgent matters to take care of." He said, meeting his father's gaze steadily.

The girl, who was clearly drunk out of her mind, began kissing his neck. With a nod to Elena and Miranda, Damon turned and made his way up the stairs, the girl traipsing obediently behind.

There was a long, pregnant pause, the silence even more heavy than before.

Elena looked at Giuseppe, waiting for him to say something, laugh it off, excuse Damon's behavior, shrug and mutter something about 'young people these days'. But he did nothing. And so neither did anyone else, they carried on eating, the clinking of silverware the only sound.

* * *

><p>Elena groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. Her room was in the same side of the house as Damon's and the sounds coming from down the hall were not the best lullaby.<p>

She felt completely alone, lying in the enormous dark room, listening to unfamiliar sounds. She missed her old life, before everything had started to go wrong. When Jeremy was still alive.

He had died when he was ten. Elena had been twelve and she still remembered that day as though it was yesterday. From then on it had been one thing after another. Every time things started going okay, life would throw some new challenge her way.

The floorboards creaked and unsteady footsteps could be heard heading down the hall. Elena frowned and slipped out of bed, creeping to her door and cracking it open.

The blonde girl was half dressed, her shoes clutched in her hands as she walked. She looked dejected, and drunk. Elena wondered how she was going to get home, she was in no state to drive.

"Are you ok?" She whispered.

The girl jumped and peered through the darkness, searching for the source of the voice.

Elena approached her, a reassuring smile on her lips.

The girl looked at her groggily.

"Yeah, fine." She murmured, turning to walk away.

Elena grabbed her arm.

"The way out's that way." She said, pointing the girl in the right direction.

"Thanks." Was her short response.

Elena nodded but followed her down the stairs, watching as she pulled her jacket on, over her unbuttoned shirt.

"Do you have a car here?" She asked.

The girl paused, as though searching through her brain for a memory from earlier in the evening.

"No." She finally groaned, her face twisting in anguish at the realization.

Elena contemplated the situation for a second. The girl was clearly upset as well as intoxicated. She was completely helpless and by the looks of her, not much older than Elena herself.

She sighed and grabbed her jacket from the back of the door.

"I'll drive you." She said, fishing in her pocket for her keys.

The girl stared at her, surprised, before nodding gratefully.

"Thank you."

Elena led the way outside, heading towards her car.

"So what's your name?" She asked.

"Tessa." Came the soft reply.

Elena smiled and gestured for her to climb in the passenger side.

"Where do you live?" She inquired as she started the car.

She gave the address before slumping back against the seat and closing her eyes.

Elena glanced at her nervously, praying she hadn't had anything other than alcohol that night. She felt a surge of anger towards Damon as she looked at the vulnerable girl in her car. He was going to let her just walk out into the night, alone without a car. She grit her teeth and drove to Tessa's house, deciding to give Damon a piece of her mind at the first opportunity.

* * *

><p>Damon watched out of his window as Elena helped the girl to her car. He watched as she smiled comfortingly, looking at the girl with what seemed to be genuine concern. She was in pajama shorts, her leather jacket doing little to keep out the cold, but she wasn't complaining. He could see, by the warm, comforting look on her face, that her thoughts were on her companion, not herself.<p>

Damon's brows furrowed as he watched the little scene. There was something different about Elena Gilbert. She wasn't like any other girl he'd ever met. She was completely selfless.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys! Thank you so much for all your kind reviews, they inspire me to keep writing :) <strong>

**To answer your questions about Damon's age/occupation etc. He is the same age as he is in the show (early 20s) he doesn't live with Giuseppe full time... but later on in the story we will learn more about that whole situation ;) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

><p>Elena made her way downstairs slowly the next morning, weary from last nights' expedition. It had been quite a drive to Tessa's house and she had had trouble staying awake on the way back.<p>

She yawned as she walked into the kitchen, fumbling to put on some coffee. Miranda was nowhere to be seen. At home she always made coffee and had it ready before Elena was even awake.

She sighed and searched through the cupboards looking for the necessary equipment.

She heard a noise from the sitting room and frowned, maybe Miranda was up after all. She peaked around the door expecting to see her mother.

Damon sat, lounging in the sofa with a book. He was dressed in his usual ensemble of black, his dark hair rumpled and his expression bored. As if he didn't have a care in the world.

She felt her tiredness dissipate at the sight of him, only to be replaced by anger. How dare he sit there reading as though he had nothing to be sorry about?

Without a thought to anything but the poor girl she had helped the night before, she stormed into the room and stood in front of him. She desperately wanted to grab his stupid book out of his hands and hit him over the head with it. Repeatedly. The image of Tessa's confused, tearstained face flashed before her eyes and she ground her teeth.

Damon glanced up and raised an eyebrow. Surveying her with little interest.

"Can I help you with something Elena?" He asked, drawing out the vowels in her name in an irritatingly patronizing way.

She scowled.

"You're a jerk, you know that?" She spat.

He rolled his eyes. Only succeeding in enraging her more.

"Yes, I have been told that before. Do you have a point?"

Elena clenched her fists at her sides, resisting the urge to punch that satisfied smirk right off his face.

"How could you do that to that girl?" She asked, trying to give him a chance to explain, apologize. Make some excuse.

He sighed, turning back to his book.

"Do what exactly? Spend hours giving her multiple…"

"Damon!" She cut him off quickly, blood rising to her cheeks. Whether it was from embarrassment about what he had been about to say or outrage at his lack of remorse for his actions, she wasn't sure.

She knew she was crossing the line. She barely knew Damon. She had no right to yell at him in his own house, but she didn't care. He deserved it. He couldn't go through life thinking that it was ok to treat girls like that. To treat anyone like that.

"You just kicked her out in the middle of the night. What if she had been hurt?" She continued, refusing to be thrown off.

She stared at him in exasperation when he didn't reply, seemingly absorbed in his book. She grabbed it out of his hands and threw it onto the coffee table. He looked up at her and there was clear menace in his eyes. She felt her heart flutter with something approaching fear but refused to back down.

"Be very careful Elena." He said in a low voice.

She met his gaze unflinchingly.

"She was barely older than me." Her eyes were fiery as she glared at him.

He stood up, invading her personal space and reminding her how capable he was of hurting her. He lent down until his face was inches from hers.

"I've had younger." He whispered, letting his eyes trail down her body, making it clear what was going through his mind.

She took a step back and he smirked.

But she didn't give up. Not just because she was too proud, but also because he was clearly used to people never questioning him. Never telling him that he was wrong. She didn't care how important he was, how dangerous he was, she would treat him like she would treat anybody else. He needed to be told that it wasn't acceptable.

"She could have died, you creep. How could you care so little that…"

His eyes darkened.

"I don't care Elena. It doesn't matter to me. If that girl had wound up dead in a ditch this morning, I wouldn't have batted an eye." His voice was hard and steely as he stared her down.

A wave of rage crashed over her at his cold words and she found herself propelled forward. Her hand met his cheek with a loud crack. She was surprised at her own action but she didn't regret it. Even though she seemed to have done more damage to her hand than his face. He was still for a second, as thought trying to control his reaction. When Elena shifted slightly he snapped out of it and grabbed her wrist.

She resisted the urge to cry out as his hand closed around her, holding her painfully tight.

"Don't ever do that again." His voice was low but the threat was loud and clear. His eyes flashed dangerously as they held hers and she found herself swallowing compulsively.

"It does matter. And you know it." She said quietly, summoning the last of her courage.

He gripped her wrist tighter and she couldn't help the grimace that crossed her face.

"I can make your life very hard Miss Gilbert. You do not want me as an enemy."

He dropped her arm and left the room without a second glance in her direction.

She sank down into the sofa as soon as he was out of sight. She was shaking, but not from fear, although her brain knew she should fear Damon, she didn't. She didn't know why she wasn't scared of him, he had given her reason to be, but she wasn't. No, she was shaking from fury.

Her coffee forgotten, she hurried back up to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

><p><strong> I know this is short, but I just wanted to have this confrontation be a chapter in itself instead of diluting it with other stuff! I will try to update sooner this time :) <strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

><p>Elena awkwardly entered the dining room, raising her eyebrows when she saw four places set. She hadn't spoken to Damon since their altercation earlier and was nervous about her he would react to her. She felt slightly embarrassed about how she had behaved; she didn't know anything about this man. It wasn't her place to tell him off in his own home. But there was something about him that just got her completely worked up.<p>

She stood by the table, shifting her weight from side to side and fiddling with her hands. She hated the formality of this household. She never knew when she was meant to sit, stand, walk, smile…

"You look like a fish out of water." An amused voice said from behind her.

She whirled around, coming face to face with Damon's disconcerting blue eyes.

He was smirking, a twinkle of amusement in his bright orbs.

She stammered for a moment and felt the blood rise to her cheeks.

"I wasn't sure if I should go and help with dinner or not." She finally murmured.

He strolled past her and took his place at the table, leaning back in his seat to look at her.

"Giuseppe has someone come in to cook on these 'family meal' nights." He said it pleasantly enough but she could hear the underlying irritation towards his father in his tone.

She wondered what the story was between those two, none of it really made sense. Damon clearly hated his father, and yet he still lived part time in the same house as him. She didn't quite see why someone like Damon would bother spending any time in a town like Mystic Falls at all.

She approached the table and nervously sat down, eyeing him cautiously.

He rolled his eyes.

"Relax I won't bite." He said with a chuckle.

She smiled slightly in reply, but did find herself relaxing a little. She took a deep breath.

"Look, I'm sorry about how I behaved earlier. I had no right to butt in like that. I just…"

"I should have called the girl a cab." He shrugged. "You have no reason to apologize, you were standing up for a fellow woman...I respect that."

Elena's eyes flew to his and for a second she swore she could see a flicker of regret. Before she had fully registered it, the amused, emotionless look was back. She wondered what it was that made him like that. There must have been something, some trigger, something that damaged him, that made him feel as though nothing mattered. No one was born like that.

"Besides, you yelling at me that way was kind of hot." He smirked.

She blushed furiously and looked down at her plate. She was surprised to find herself fighting a smile.

They were interrupted when Giuseppe and Miranda entered, the atmosphere immediately chilled and Elena's almost smile was instantly gone.

* * *

><p>Elena lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling. She was tracing the cracks with her eyes, trying to pretend they were pictures. She was bored out of her mind. Miranda was out and she had taken Elena's car, her own was having some work done. Being stranded in this enormous house alone with the Salvatores was literally the last thing she wanted.<p>

Deciding that there was really no point in indulging her loneliness any more than necessary, she got up and headed to the library.

It was strange, there was a part of her that hated this house. She hated that her mother thought that this place could ever replace her childhood home. She hated the size and the coldness, the way it felt so lifeless. But there was another part of her, the part that ran on instinct instead of logical thought. That part felt strangely safe here. Not everywhere, just in certain parts, she always felt a warm feeling of _protection _in the library…There were a couple of other spots where she felt the same. She couldn't place the feeling, and she couldn't describe why she felt it. She just did.

She let her hands trail along the walls as she made her way to the library. She wasn't sure where Damon and his father were but she prayed she wouldn't run into them. A lot of her thoughts had been taken up by Damon recently. She had found herself wanting to get to know him, learn about his past, understand why he was the way he was. She was certain there must have been something that hurt him, she knew all too well how easy it was to feel the need to shut off your emotions after a tragedy.

She passed the large door that she knew led to Giuseppe's office and paused when she heard voices. They were yelling and the words were easy for her to pick up. She was about to continue on her way, she had never been one to eavesdrop on other people's private conversations, but the words caught her and she hesitated.

"This is crossing a line."

"Oh please Damon. Whatever lines there are have already been crossed."

"No, not like this. I won't be a part of this."

"You think I haven't done jobs like this before? You just see what you want to see."

"You have got to be kidding me! I never see what I want to see, never in my life have I seen something that I wanted to see."

"Don't be melodramatic son. This is a big job, I can't have you screwing it up."

"No, I won't allow this."

"Its already done Damon. I set it in motion an hour ago, there's nothing you can do."

Elena's eyes widened as she heard something smash. She pressed herself to the wall and listened intently now, her heart racing at the strange conversation.

"There are two women living in this house. Have you thought about the consequences this could bring down on them?"

"Miranda and her daughter are here to keep up appearances, you know that. There will be no consequences because we never get caught. They have nothing on us, and if anyone does they are too scared to come forward. Rightly so."

"Do you get a kick out of fucking with people's lives? Is that it?"

"Don't tell me you're developing a conscience after all these years? What is it, have you grown to _care _for the Gilberts?"

There was a pause. Elena's breathing began to grow ragged, she wanted to move but her legs felt like they were made of lead. She didn't understand what she was hearing. She had a feeling she didn't even want to understand it.

"Of course not. I was merely saying that you should consider the repercussions of…"

"Enough! I have been in this business a lot longer than you. This is what we do. I won't listen to another word of this rubbish."

Elena heard someone moving and took off down the hall, her sock clad feet silently flying across the floor.

The office door flew open and she ducked into the library and hid in the doorway. She peaked out to see Damon standing in the hall staring after her. She gasped and ducked back into the room, closing the door softly behind her.

She stood in silence, her heart pounding loudly in her own ears. Whatever they had been talking about, it had been bad.

And what had Giuseppe meant about them being here to keep up appearances? He loved her mother, didn't he?

* * *

><p><strong>Don't forget to review, it's like fuel for words ;) <strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

><p>Damon sat by the fire, a glass of his trusty scotch in hand. He was mulling over the repercussions of the conversation he had had with his father. He was almost certain he had seen Elena duck out of sight when he left the room. The thought of what she might of heard was troublesome. Of course, she would probably chalk it up to taking things out of context and having an over active imagination. But it didn't change the fact that her knowing anything at all was not a good idea.<p>

Damon knew his father; he was ruthless. He always had been, at least since his mother died. He had no sense of right and wrong, no compunction about ruining lives. Of course, neither did he. He had long since shut out any twinges of guilt he might feel about any of his actions. And his moral compass was definitely far from pointing north.

It was ridiculous that he would even think about playing morality police with anyone. He was just as bad as his father, and he knew it. But it still went against something in him, this way of life, these actions, went against some natural instinct that he had buried long ago.

It was her, that new Gilbert girl, she was the first person to stand up to him, other that Giuseppe. There was something about her, he hated her, absolutely loathed her, but he felt this strange urge to protect her. It was extraordinary and infuriating, but something in him wanted to keep her safe. He had found himself wishing, on several occasions, that his father had left the Gilberts alone and never brought them into this. He had know idea where these thoughts were coming from, he didn't even know the girl. She was just the spawn of his fathers' latest whore. A girl who had reprimanded at him in his own home and had the audacity to slap him over an action that had absolutely nothing to do with her.

And yet he still found himself wishing that Giuseppe had left that little family, with their Bambi eyes sad smiles, right where he'd found them. Why was that? Why, after all this time, did someone else occupy his thoughts? Why did he want this girl, who radiated such pure innocence and selflessness, to never be a part of his world? To never know that such a world existed.

It wasn't like he cared about her. Of course not. He didn't care about anyone. Besides, he hated her.

He groaned and poured himself another glass of the amber liquid on the coffee table. He wondered what _Stefan _was doing right now, off living his perfect fucking life somewhere. A normal job, a family, _Katherine_. God he hated him. He got everything that Damon had ever wanted, and he took it all for granted.

He hated all of them. He hated every single person he had ever met. He just _hated _them. How dare they be happy, when he was so fucking miserable? How was any of this fair? How did he end up being the one stuck here, with all the bad luck? Right, _life isn't fair, _he had heard that one before.

He downed another glass and felt hatred for himself make its presence known. He hated being self-pitying. It was weak. He didn't do weak, he didn't do emotions, he didn't do _caring. _It was easier that way, surveying the world through cold, impassive eyes; you could see it clearer. There was nothing in the way to impair vision or cloud judgment. There was nothing to make you feel remorse, or fear or pain.

It made him strong. He was strong, because he didn't care. He felt his mind drift back to Elena and realized that he had gone in a full circle in his musings. He was back to wondering why he didn't want her to be a part of this, why her life would matter to him at all.

It didn't, he decided. He didn't care that she may or may not have overheard a snipped of his argument with Giuseppe. She would most likely write it off and not give it a second thought. There was nothing to worry about. Not that he would be worried anyway. He didn't do worrying.

Exhausted by all this deep thinking, Damon grabbed his jacket and left the house. Slamming the door behind him for good measure. He headed to the Mystic Grill, muttering about the lack of entertainment in this ridiculously small town. He hated Mystic Falls, it was tiny and lifeless and boring. There weren't even a good variety of places to get drunk.

He saw her the minute he walked into the crowded room. She was sitting in one of the booths with a pretty blonde girl. She looked serious, her head was ducked and her long dark hair was covering half of her face. Her friend laughed and she offered a reluctant smile in return. The blonde said something else and she chuckled sheepishly, blushing and rolling her eyes. She was ridiculously beautiful.

Damon watched her, even while he ordered a scotch and took his place at the bar. He found it difficult to tear his eyes away from her, she looked so natural so _real. _But she had an air of sadness that seemed to follow her; her eyes were always slightly heartbroken and she held herself as thought the weight of the world was resting on her small shoulders.

He felt the sudden urge to make her feel better. To take her away from her troubles and make her happy again. The thought took him so off guard that he nearly choked on his drink. What the hell was wrong with him?

He turned away from her and ordered another round. He needed to get so hammered that he couldn't remember his own name, let alone Elena's.

* * *

><p><strong>I know it was wayy to short. But here is a little insight into our dear Damon! Don't forget to review, I am feeling a little lost with this story at the moment so advice and encouragement will go a loooong way :) - Serena x<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

><p>Elena sat at her regular booth in the Grill; she was fiddling with some chipped paint on the table while recounting the conversation to Caroline. Her friend listened as she explained everything she had heard. Her eyebrows rose fractionally on occasion but her face remained otherwise impassive. Elena chewed on her lip and eyed her, waiting for her response.<p>

The blonde seemed to consider for a moment, her brow wrinkled slightly as she pondered what to say.

"Elena, remember when you overheard Tyler Lockwood saying how beautiful the full moon was and convinced yourself that the entire Lockwood family were werewolves?"

Elena narrowed her eyes.

"I was twelve." She said, her lips slipping into an unconscious pout.

Caroline sighed.

"Look, my point is that you've always been a conspiracy theorist. What you heard was taken completely out of context, they could have been talking about something completely innocent and you just took it the wrong way!"

Elena frowned.

"But what about what he said about me and mom being the perfect cover?" She questioned, looking at Caroline slightly smugly.

"Ok I will admit that that is a weird thing to say, but there is probably a perfectly reasonable explanation."

She raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"Like what? And Damon said something about the 'job' compromising our safety…"

Caroline puffed out her cheeks and looked down at the table.

"I'm not saying that they're not hiding something. Everyone knows the Salvatore's are capable of doing a lot of damage… But I know you. You are going to be thinking the worst. Your little conspiracy filled brain is coming up with outrageous explanations as we speak. I just think you should cool off and try to give them the benefit of the doubt."

Elena sighed, knowing her friend was right. Ever since she was a little girl she had entertained outrageous ideas about everything. She had an overactive imagination, that piled on top of major trust issues had created a conspiracy theorist of the highest degree.

Rationally speaking, she knew she was being ridiculous. She had eves dropped on a conversation between father and son and turned it into her very own episode of The Soprano's.

She sighed and leant back against the soft bench, closing her eyes and mulling over the last couple of days. She had been drifting further and further away from Amanda, they hadn't spoken in days.

And it wasn't helpful at all that all her dreams recently seemed to be filled with a pair of haunting blue eyes.

"Just promise me you won't plot to stab anyone with a silver knife before talking to me ok?" Caroline giggled, only half joking.

Elena smiled wryly at the reference to her not so subtle attempt to out the Lockwoods as a supernatural anomaly.

"Cos somehow I don't see Giuseppe being amused when you knock him on the head with a cross and stab him with a stake."

Elena blushed but couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her. She really was never going to live down the Tyler fiasco.

"Ok, I promise. No vanquishing without prior consultation with Miss Caroline Forbes." She said formally, fighting a smile.

She held out a hand and raised an eyebrow.

Caroline shook her hand and nodded professionally.

"Done." She said stiffly, before bursting out laughing.

Elena, unable to hold the poker face any longer, joined her, letting their familiar silly banter take her mind off things.

A commotion at the bar caused the girls to turn around, twisting in their seats to get a better look at what was going on. Elena's eyes widened as she saw a very drunk Damon staring down a bartender who clearly had been trying to cut him off.

They seemed to be fighting over a bottle of whiskey or something of that nature. Caroline smirked appreciatively as Damon's muscled flexed, struggling to keep the alcohol in his possession.

"God he's hot."

Elena rolled her eyes at her friend and turned her attention back to Damon. She had never seen him this out of it. He looked completely wrecked. She wondered how he was going to get home, so far she hadn't really seen that he had many friends. She sighed when she saw that he seemed to have won the wrestle for the bottle. He brought it to his lips and swigged defiantly, smirking at the scowling waiter.

He got up and stumbled, the bottle still in his hands as he tried to walk somewhere.

"Oh for goodness sake." Elena muttered, jumping to her feet.

And, despite Caroline's surprisingly hushed warnings; she made her way over to him, ignoring the stares from curious onlookers.

"Damon." She sighed as she reached him.

He looked at her in vague confusion for a minute before completely ignoring her and heading for the door. Elena looked back at Caroline who was glaring at her questioningly, and shrugged an apology before following him.

He stumbled again and she rushed to his side, looping his arm over her shoulders to support some of his weight. He squinted down at her before shrugging slightly and allowing her to guide him out of the door.

"Want some?" He slurred waving the bottle of what she saw to be bourbon in front of her face.

She took the bottle from him, only to chuck it into the garbage as they passed.

He made a noise of protest and tried to extricate himself from her, only to end up tripping over his own feet. He would have fallen flat on his face had she not managed to use her own weight to balance him.

"Not the bourbon." He whined almost incoherently.

She rolled her eyes and led him to her car, thanking god she had gotten it back that afternoon.

She managed, despite his protests to get him settled in the back seats, even succeeding in buckling him in.

She checked the rearview mirror as she drove and sighed when she saw that he had passed out. She drove slowly, not wanting to be pulled over when she had an unconscious man lying in the back of her car. That would be interesting to explain.

When they finally reached the boarding house, Elena groaned quietly to see that all the lights were out. Giuseppe and Miranda were out or asleep. She wasn't sure which would have been better in this situation.

She climbed out and opened the back door, contemplating how she was going to get him inside. He was far too big for her to carry, she could probably manage if she dragged him by the ankles, but she didn't think he would appreciate the grass stains. Not to mention the bruises he would get from going up the stairs.

She decided that she needed to wake him, if only for long enough to get him up to his room. She climbed in next to him and shook his shoulder, refusing to let herself notice how he managed to look gorgeous even when drooling on her seats.

She shook his shoulder gently, calling his name when he didn't respond.

"God, you're really out." She muttered as she shook him. She slapped his cheek softly, and then slightly harder. He stirred but his eyes remained closed.

She sighed and winced at what she was about to do. Although the last time she had hit Damon it had been immensely satisfying, this time the thought made her cringe.

She smacked him hard across the face, sighing in relief when he awoke with a start. He stared at her blearily.

"What's going on?" He murmured, stringing the words together.

She half dragged him out of the car and supported a good deal of his weight as they walked towards the house.

He looked up at the mansion as it loomed before them.

"Funny looking place, this." He muttered.

She frowned, maybe he'd had even more to drink than she'd thought. Oh god, maybe he was high! She didn't like that thought at all. She had no idea what to do with someone who was on drugs.

"Damon this is your home." She said cautiously.

His frown grew deeper and he pouted slightly.

"S'not." He argued, leaning on her heavily as she searched her purse for the front door keys.

'Yes, Damon it is." She sighed. "Your father lives here." She explained softly.

He mumbled unintelligibly before managing something surprisingly coherent.

"I never said I didn't know who lived here. I said it's not my home." He explained.

She looked at him questioningly and opened her mouth to find out more before noticing that his eyes were drooping closed.

She wrapped her arms back around him and helped him into the dark house, having finally managed to get the door open.

His eyes were closed and his head was resting on hers. She was having trouble getting him to put one foot in front of the other. While she knew that he seemed to harbor a fondness for alcohol she had never seen him this smashed. She wondered if something had happened, but he was in no position to be interrogated.

She stumbled as she helped him up the stairs, the amount of weight he was resting on her was making her unsteady. She was surprised to feel his other hand dart around to catch her wrist, stopping her from falling.

She mumbled a thank you and they continued their slow progress towards his room.

He flopped onto his bed, when they finally stumbled towards it. Elena sighed and began unlacing his boots. He made no move to stop her, so she pulled them off and tossed them to the floor.

He opened his eyes a crack and looked at her appraisingly.

"Why do you help people?" He asked, slurring his words.

She offered him a small smile.

"Does there need to be a reason?" She replied softly.

His impossible blue eyes seemed to burn into hers before he passed out again, his eyes drifting closed and his head slumping back against the pillows.

Elena watched him, noting with surprise how innocent he looked in slumber. All the pretenses and masks left his face, leaving him with an open, relaxed expression. She wondered if this was what he used to look like all the time, before whatever had happened to make him the way he was now, happened. Like this, he looked completely adorable. The sort of guy who will always do the right thing, who takes joy out of the small gifts that life offers. She couldn't help but speculate about what had changed him.

She forced her thoughts away from his personal life, knowing that she had no right to theorize about him.

She managed to maneuver him under the covers, pulling them up to his chin and tucking him in. Unable to resist, she brushed a strand of hair off his forehead, letting her fingers linger for a bit longer than necessary.

"Goodnight Damon." She whispered.

She left the room and closed the door softly behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for the ideas guys! Definitely going to incorporate some of them :) Anyway, I think they needed some more interaction and time to bond and help each other... Let me know what you think! <strong>

**Review? ;) **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Elena traipsed up to the boarding house door, her arms laden with books and a heavy bag slung over her shoulder. She'd had a horrible day at school, she was running on very little sleep and the mixture of her history teacher's incessant chatter and the pile of homework she'd been assigned, had left her with a splitting headache.

She reached the door and fumbled to pull her keys out of her jeans pocket. The books fell to the floor and she swore loudly, bending to pick them up.

"Here you go."

Damon, having heard her rather unladylike exclamation, gathered her books from the ground and took the bag off her shoulder. She watched his actions, completely baffled by his consideration. She followed him into the house, studying the expression on his face. He was lacking the usual coldness that seemed to always grace his features. Instead there was an air of slight confusion and uncertainty about him, as though he too, was unsure as to why he was being so courteous.

"Thank you." She murmured, when he placed her belongings on the kitchen table.

He nodded briefly and turned to leave, hesitating as he reached the door. He half turned back to her and there was a distant look in his eyes, as though there was something on his mind that he didn't quite know how to express.

"Elena…"

She couldn't help but notice how much she liked the sound of her name coming out of his mouth.

"What you did for me last night…No one's ever…I guess I just want to thank you for that." He murmured.

She was surprised at how humble he looked in that moment. Gone was the cocky self-assured ladies man and in his place was a boy with painful vulnerability.

She smiled warmly at him, trying to squash the sudden urge to throw her arms around him.

"You're welcome." She said softly.

He nodded, and hesitated as though considering saying something else, before deciding against it and walking quickly from the room.

Elena stood staring at the spot that he had just vacated. He had has a sort of innocence about him, almost as though he were silently begging her not to hurt him. Something about his expression in that moment tugged at her heartstrings and she wanted, more than anything to run after him and envelop him in a never ending hug.

She was pulled from her thoughts when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She started and pulled it out, smiling when she saw a text from Caroline. They had reconnected recently and were getting along better than ever. She had missed her friend, and with everything that was going on lately it was nice to have someone to talk to again. Her mother was putting more and more distance between them; sometimes they went a whole day without even seeing each other. Despite the fact that they were living in the same house.

She quickly shot off a reply to Caroline, saying that she would be ready in ten minutes. They had arranged to go to the grill for dinner again, what with both of them having rather unpleasant home lives, neither of them wanted to spend any more time than necessary at their houses.

Elena grabbed her stuff off the table and ran upstairs, dumping everything on her bed and throwing a few essentials into a purse.

Caroline was picking her up, they lived close to each other and saw no point in driving the short distance to the grill separately.

She heard the front door close and realized that Damon must have gone out. Her thoughts drifted back to the blue eyed man she was living with. She thought she was managing pretty well to hide her insane attraction towards him, but when he was being sincere and kind the feat became even harder. She felt strangely drawn to him; she had right from the start. Whether it was overwhelming anger, embarrassment, magnetism, he made her feel a level of feelings she hadn't really experienced before. And while it was easy to convince herself that she wanted nothing to do with him when he was treating girls like garbage and being rude to anything with legs, sweet, thoughtful Damon was harder to want to stay away from.

But despite what her friends had said, the conversation she had overheard was still nagging in the back of her mind. Making her even more cautious of forging any kind of friendship with anyone named Salvatore.

A car horn honked outside and grabbing her purse, she raced downstairs.

* * *

><p>"Care, that guy over there is checking you out." Elena giggled, pointing rather obviously to a cute guy sitting at the bar.<p>

"Lena! Don't point!" Caroline whispered, glaring at her friend.

"Sorry."

"Should I go talk to him?"

"Sure why not? He's cute right?"

Caroline bit her lip nervously before jumping up and walking purposefully towards the bar.

Elena smiled and turned back to her food.

She picked at her plate and felt her smile slip from her face.

She put on a good show, but she didn't like pretending that everything was fine. She had lost too much in her life, and however hard she tried to forget and tried to do normal teenage things; that feeling wouldn't go away. It was in quiet moments like these that her thoughts slipped to her dad, or Jeremy. And then she'd be fighting the tears, fighting the darkness that wanted so desperately to gobble her up.

She glanced around, taking deep breaths and trying to force her mask back onto her face. She frowned when she saw that Caroline was no longer at the bar, the man she had been talking to had gone as well.

She stood up abruptly and left some bills on the table before almost running to the door. She made it to the car park just in time to see Caroline getting into a old Ford pick up with someone she'd met only minutes ago.

"Care!"

The blonde glanced back at the sound of her friend's voice and gave her a chirpy smile.

"You can drive my car home. I'll come get it tomorrow." She yelled back, as the truck pulled away.

"Caroline wait!"

Elena cursed as the vehicle disappeared out of sight. While Caroline was a sweet girl, and a lot of fun to be around, she wasn't the smartest person. Life had been kind to her and she'd grown up overly sheltered. It had only been a matter of time before she did something like climb into a van with a stranger.

She considered her options. She could call the sheriff, who was incidentally Caroline's mother. But if she did that and the guy really was harmless, her friend would most likely never speak to her again.

Her eyes began to swim with tears as she realized the hopelessness of her situation, she hadn't even had the foresight to look at the trucks' number plate. She had no idea who the guy was or where he was going, and she knew that the likelihood of his intentions towards Caroline being pure, were slim to none.

She ran back inside, her fingers fumbling with her phone and her heart pounding. Better an angry friend than a dead friend right? She thought as she searched through her contacts.

"You alright?"

She looked up to see Damon's startling eyes staring down at her with…concern?

"Damon!" Even she was surprised by the relief, evident in her voice.

"Thank god, my friend, Caroline…there was this guy and…she's gone and there was a van and I didn't see and…i don't know what to do." Her words came out confused and jumbled together as she fought her tears.

She didn't know why she was telling Damon, she should be calling the sheriff. But that strange sense of security that she had always found around him was enveloping her. It was like some unconscious part of her knew that he could help.

"Shh, ok calm down. Tell me exactly what happened." He said soothingly, taking her elbow and guiding her back outside, away from the watchful eyes of the town folk.

Elena took a deep breath.

"There was this guy at the bar and he kept on looking at her, so she went over to say hi. And then…I looked up and they were gone and...I came out here and she was leaving with him." Her voice broke as her mind ran over all the worst possible things that could happen to her friend.

Caroline was like a ray of sunshine, she was innocent, unaware of what the world could be like.

She was surprised when she felt a comforting arm wrapped around her shoulders. She was even more surprised when she found herself leaning against Damon and letting his musky warmth reassure her.

"We'll find her. Don't worry Elena, we'll find her." he murmured, typing something on his phone with one hand.

She nodded, feeling an unlikely confidence in him. She trusted that he meant what he said.

"Can you tell me what he looked like?" He asked quietly.

Elena frowned, picturing the man they had seen in the grill.

"He had sandy hair and brown eyes…Stocky…He was wearing a grey T-shirt." The description sounded pathetic even to her ears but Damon just nodded.

"And the car?"

"A Ford pick up." She answered instantly, silently cursing herself for not even glancing at the plate.

He brought his phone to his phone to his ear and began walking briskly to his car, Elena still held securely under his arm.

* * *

><p><strong>I am so sorry this has taken so long! I have had zero inspiration, and the latest VD spoilers haven't been helping at all. Anyway, I know this is really crappy, but I hope it wasn't too much of a disappointment. I will try to get on top of my writing again and update faster! <strong>

**(NOTE: When I said Amanda last chapter, I meant *Miranda. Sorry for the typo!)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

><p>Elena sat silently in the passenger seat of Damon's Camaro. He was standing outside talking quietly on his phone.<p>

She couldn't help but think of how she was blindly putting her trust in an unlikely ally. What were Damon's motivations for helping her? He had no reason to really, and yet here she was, waiting obediently for him to tell her what to do next.

The slamming of the car door jarred her out of her thoughts and she looked up as he sat down and started the engine.

"Who was on the phone?"

"A buddy of mine down at the station. He's checking the traffic cameras for a pick up. You didn't recognize the car or person so they must have arrived in town recently. He'll be able to pull the plate and get a trace." He spoke calmly and an overwhelming sense of safety washed over her.

She had felt it a few times around him, but never to this extent.

Somehow it didn't surprise her that he had connections in the police. He probably had connections in the CIA for all she knew.

"Where are we going now?" Usually she wouldn't like feeling so out of control, but with him it felt almost natural, letting someone other than herself fix everything for once.

"Drive around keeping our eyes open for a Ford, while we wait for the call." He said tossing her his phone.

She caught it, and kept quiet as he started driving. Her eyes peeled, searching for the van. His phone started ringing loudly and she jumped, her fingers shaking as she scrambled to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Put Damon on please."

She quickly handed him the phone and studied his profile. He didn't speak just nodded and gave a brusque thanks before hanging up.

She yelped when he did a U-turn without slowing down. Her knuckles white as she clutched her seat.

Damon's face was unreadable, and he didn't even glance at her as he drove.

The stopped outside an apartment building. It was old and not very well kept, there was a police car parked outside and two officers were just climbing out as they pulled up.

Damon got out and one of the cops waved him over. Elena hurried to follow him, her eyes wide as she noticed the pick up parked on the side of the road.

The men stopped talking when they saw Elena watching them. Damon sighed and walked back to her, taking her arm and leading her back to his car. He opened the passenger door and turned her to face him.

"You are going to stay here." He said firmly, looking her steadily in the eyes.

His gaze was intense and unwavering, his beautiful eyes sincere and almost concerned as he looked at her. Words momentarily evaded her under his intense scrutiny.

"Now get in." He gently pushed her until she sighed and complied, sitting down and scowling at his retreating back.

"Lock the doors." He called over his shoulder.

She watched as he walked into the building with the two policemen. She frowned, she was sure he wasn't supposed to be allowed to go with them. He was just as much a civilian as she was. She had been surprised to see police there at all. She had thought that she and Damon were just going to find Caroline and take her home.

Her heart started pounding as she began to consider the possibilities. The police were there because it was something they thought Damon couldn't handle on his own. That meant that something seriously bad could have happened. In all her panic at seeing Caroline driving off with some creepy stranger, she had never really thought clearly about what could actually happen to her.

Before she could stop herself, she was out of the car and running towards the building, her heart in her throat. She raced inside and started up the stairs, her feet on the wooden floorboards loud in her ears.

The crack of wood and chorus of yelling, told her where to head. She ignored the burning in her lungs and ran towards the noise. The door to one of the apartments had been kicked in, it hung loosely on the ill made hinges. Damon stood just outside the doorway as the officers pulled their guns and entered the room.

She reached them just as the call of 'clear' echoed around the deserted hallways.

Damon noticed her before she could get close enough to see inside the apartment and his eyes widened in horror.

"Damn it Elena." He yelled, grabbing her to stop her from entering the room.

He held her upper arms tightly and shielded her line of vision with his body as he began to drag her back towards the stairs.

"No Damon, let me go! Where's Caroline?"

He didn't answer, and one look at his stony face told her everything she needed to know. She kicked him hard in the shin and before he could react she had wriggled out of his grasp and was running into the apartment.

"Elena no!" She heard him call.

She stopped short as her eyes settled on the room. The two men were crouched by Caroline, who was lying limply on the floor. Blood was running down her face from a wound on her head and her eyes were closed. There were smears of red on her clothes, which were torn in places, as thought someone had been in the process of ripping them off her.

Elena was vaguely aware of someone talking into a radio and the sound of sirens in the distance getting closer.

She stood unmoving, her eyes fixed on her best friend in shock. Tears began to run down her cheeks and she stumbled forward, her legs shaky as she tried to reach Caroline.

"Care." She sobbed.

She felt strong arms wrap around her waist and someone picked her up, cradling her like a small child. She felt herself being carried away but she didn't fight. He vision was blurred with tears and her breathing was getting faster and faster as she replayed that horrible image in her mind.

She felt the movement stop and vaguely realized that she was back in Damon's car, sitting in the passenger seat in his lap. A hand held her head protectively against his chest, while the other was still wrapped securely round her waist. His chin was resting on her hair and he was whispering soothing words into her ear.

She tried to focus on what was happening, but her concentration kept slipping. Her brain felt loose, as though she couldn't quite hold onto her thoughts.

It wasn't until she saw the ambulance arrive and Caroline carried inside, strapped onto a gurney that the full reality of what had happened hit her. She felt the world blur at the edges before everything went black.

* * *

><p>"Is she going to be alright?"<p>

"Its just the shock. She'll be fine, son."

"She been out for a while…"

"She'll wake up when she's ready."

Voices swam around in her mind as Elena struggled to open her eyes. There were bright lights and the sharp smell of disinfectant that she recognized as the hospital.

"Elena?"

Damon's face hovered above her and she finally focused on her surroundings. She was in a small consultation room, an elderly doctor stood nearby and Damon was brushing her hair out of her face and peering into her eyes.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice was cracked from crying.

"You fainted honey." The doctor said with a reassuring smile. He took Damon's place by the examination table and shone a small flashlight into her eyes. She blinked and struggled to keep her eyes open, but the doctor seemed satisfied.

"Good as new." He said with a smile.

She didn't return it, looking to Damon for confirmation.

"Come on, let's go then woozy." He said, taking her arm and helping her down.

She let him help her, even relaxing into his side when he wrapped an arm around her to guide her from the room.

"Thanks doc." He called over his shoulder as they left the room.

"Caroline." She gasped, having suddenly remembered why she was in shock in the first place.

She looked up at Damon with wide eyes.

"Please. Is she…what happened?" She begged, tears filling her eyes again as she thought of her friend.

"She's going to be fine." He reassured her, giving her arm a soft squeeze.

She sighed in relief.

"Can I see her?"

"She's sleeping right now, her mom is with her. We're going home, you can come and visit tomorrow."

"But…"

He stepped in front of her and tilted her chin up.

"She's fine. But you are not going to spend all night in a hospital waiting room after you just passed out. Ok? Caroline is going to be asleep anyway; she won't know you're here until she wakes up tomorrow."

She frowned, and thought about arguing, but honestly she was tired. And cold and confused, and she wanted nothing more than to go home. As long as she knew Caroline was going to be fine and she could come back tomorrow, there was no reason for her to wait here.

She nodded her agreement. He took her arm and they continued out to the car park.

* * *

><p>It wasn't until they got home and Damon was walking her up to her bedroom that she realized what he'd done for her that night. He had been selfless, he had gone out of his way to save a girl he didn't even know, for her. He had stayed with her in the hospital, he had comforted her, reassured her; he had been there for her. She didn't know why and she didn't have the energy to try and analyze it.<p>

Instead she stopped outside her bedroom door, stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"And you know what you asked me before, about helping people? Well I could ask you the same thing."

She gave him a small smile, before disappearing into her room and closing the door.

* * *

><p><strong><em>So I really suck! I know this update has taken forever...and I don't know if this chapter even makes any sense! :(<em>**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

><p>Elena woke up slowly the next morning, her eyes blearily taking in her mother sitting on the edge of the bed. She sat up and looked at her questioningly.<p>

Miranda gave her a soft smile.

"Damon told us what happened. I'm so sorry you had to go through that honey." She murmured, her eyes filled with sympathy as she gazed at her daughter.

Elena nodded her thanks, staring at the sheets as the image of Caroline's unconscious body drifted in front of her eyes.

She took a deep breath and clambered out of bed. Her bare feet making her shiver as they hit the cold floor. Last night seemed almost like a dream, everything felt so surreal, like she didn't really know which way was up.

"I'm going to the hospital." She said distractedly, moving about her room in search of the jeans she discarded the night before.

"Do you want me to give you a ride?"

She found the jeans and grabbed a clean shirt from her closet, throwing them on her bed and glancing at her mom.

"No, I'll be fine."

It saddened her how distant they'd become, but now wasn't the time to delve into that. She needed to see her friend, reassure herself that she really was ok and then talk about shoes and boys and just forget about all this drama.

She sighed and gave Miranda a look.

"I need to change."

"Right." She nodded, and looked slightly wistful as she got up to leave.

She hesitated at the door and gave Elena a soft smile.

"I love you Lena. You know that right?" She murmured.

"Yeah. I know that."

When the door closed behind her, Elena closed her eyes and took another deep breath before hurrying to get dressed.

* * *

><p>"Do you have him?"<p>

"Yes. Serial rapist, he's been working the area for a few weeks. We've been trying to catch him for a while."

"The girl last night, did he…"

"No. He heard us coming and left out the window. She got off lucky."

"Right. Thanks for letting me know."

"Sure thing, Damon."

Damon hung up the phone and huffed out a breath, staring at the rain streaked window in his room.

He had spent most of the night tossing and turning, the memory of Elena's soft lips against his cheek, burning in his brain. He had never been like this over a girl, he didn't like it. He didn't want to care about her, although he knew it was far too late for that. He was currently trying to convince himself that he only cared about her in a physical capacity. He was determined not to let his bizarre infatuation go any further. She was seventeen years old, he was twenty three and, as _many_ fathers had told him, trouble.

He was angry enough with his own father for dragging her into this as it was, without leading her deeper himself. He didn't want her to get hurt. He knew he was being completely ridiculous. He barely even knew the girl. Yes she was beautiful and he wanted her bad, but he wasn't stupid, he knew it went beyond that. He had been down this road before and he knew where it led. Pain on both sides.

He needed to nip this in the bud while he still could.

* * *

><p>Elena spent the rest of the day at the hospital. Caroline had woken up and thankfully, did not remember the majority of the ordeal. Her mom, the sheriff, was livid and had insisted on taking over the case.<p>

Elena learned that the man they had caught was an assailant that they had been after for a while, apparently he had been patrolling the state doing awful things to pretty blonde girls. She shuddered at the very thought, and thanked the lord that Caroline had been lucky enough to get away with comparatively nothing.

She didn't head home until late into the evening, both wanting to spend as much time as possible with her friend, and wanting to avoid another confrontation with her mom at home. She hated the way whenever they had so much as a conversation she could practically taste the strain between them. It made her feel homesick for her old life. For the mornings when she would wake up to the smell of her dad's famous waffles and the sound of Jeremy's infectious laughter.

She arrived back at the Salvatore estate and could tell that her mom and Giuseppe were out. Again. She traipsed upstairs and was greeted by the sound of a girls' loud moans coming from Damon's room. She felt her face grow hot and dashed into her bedroom slamming the door. With a nasty, bitter taste in her mouth, she stood in the middle of the room feeling more alone than she had in a while. After a particularly high pitched cry of pleasure, she grabbed her bag and ran back out onto the landing and down the stairs. She flew out the front door, slamming it behind her and raced down the path, her heart pounding in her chest.

She sat alone in her car for a long, silent moment before bursting into tears. She didn't care that Damon was sleeping with some girl, she just was on emotional overdrive after everything that had happened. Ever since she had moved into the Salvatore boarding house it had been one thing after another. Fighting with Damon, overhearing that creepy conversation, Caroline being hurt… she was over tired, over emotional and lonely. That was all.

She leant back in her seat and let the tears softly drip down her cheeks. Closing her eyes and imagining herself far away in some beautiful place where everything was perfect and every bad event was erased.

It wasn't long until she drifted to sleep, curled up in the front seat of her car, tears tracks etched into her smooth skin.

* * *

><p>Damon lay in bed after he'd sent the girl, he was pretty sure she had said her name was Rainie, home with money for a cab. He felt unsatisfied and antsy. For the first time in years he found himself missing something, he wasn't sure what. But he knew that he craved something that the quick lay wasn't giving him. He had decided that sex was the best way to get his mind off whatever weird <em>feelings <em>he might have been developing but it hadn't really had the desired effect. Instead it had left him feeling empty and cold. With a heavy sigh he rolled over and forced himself to close his eyes and try to get some sleep.

* * *

><p>Things were different after that. Whatever tentative friendship Damon and Elena had built had been broken, and they acknowledged each other only with brief nods and muttered hellos.<p>

It hurt Elena. She had trusted him more than she had ever trusted anyone that night when he helped her find Caroline. She had put all her faith in him and he had saved the day. He had protected her and comforted her and _looked after _her. He had made her feel safe. She didn't know what she had done to make him withdraw from her. Whatever it was, she wished she could take it back.

The days passed slowly for her. She went to school, met her friends for lunch, smiled, laughed. But then she would get home to find her mom locked in her bedroom and Giuseppe locked in the study. Damon had a different girl over every night and none of them were quiet. Elena often found herself falling asleep in her car, hating every aspect of her 'home' life. Everything that had been left unsaid by all of them was heavy in the air and the house felt somehow larger and colder. She on the other hand, just felt empty.

* * *

><p>Damon had reverted back to his worst possible behavior. He drank a lot and was rude to everyone he saw. The big job that his dad had financed had gone through without a hitch and Damon forced himself not to care.<p>

That little flash of humanity he had felt, those moments when he had looked into Elena Gilbert's deep brown eyes and seen nothing but innocence and goodness, had scared him to his very core. He had been that person before, the one who treasured the good in the world, nurtured it, he didn't want to be that man again. He couldn't. He needed to be the person he had evolved into to protect himself, he wasn't going to let Elena scratch her way into his heart and leave him reeling. He was done with all that crap.

And so he closed off further than he ever had before.

* * *

><p><em><strong>I know this has taken horribly long but I am back on track with this story and have planned out the next few chapters, so the updates should be way quicker :) <strong>_

_**Y'all probably aren't going to like this update, I'm sorry there wasn't much delena in this one and we've sort of gone back a few steps, but it will make the moment when he properly opens up to her (which he will) so much more important. **_

_**Anyway, review to let me know if any of you are still interested in this story! x**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

><p>"Has it occurred to you that maybe this is all in your head?" Caroline asked bluntly one evening at the grill.<p>

Elena looked up from burning a hole in her plate of fries and frowned.

"What?"

"Whatever it is that's worrying you. And don't tell me there's nothing."

Elena twisted a fry in her fingers before dropping it back down and flopping back in her seat.

"I think my mom and Giuseppe are having issues." She murmured.

Caroline frowned.

"Like what?"

"They never talk to each other any more, my mom doesn't really talk to anyone, and he's always just shut in his study." Elena's eyes were sad as she spoke, her voice almost a whisper.

Caroline's face twisted in sympathy.

"I'm sorry sweetie...what about Damon? What does he do when you guys are at home?"

Elena looked away quickly and shrugged.

"I don't want to talk about Damon." She said.

Her friend looked surprised and curious but let it go.

"Ok so back to your mom, I thought you didn't want her with Giuseppe anyway."

"I want her to be happy." Elena sighed.

Caroline nodded.

"I'm sorry things are so hard for you right now. It must really suck."

"You could say that." Elena chuckled.

"This is just about your mom's relationship though right? You're not still obsessing over that conversation you heard?" Caroline asked tentatively.

"No of course not." She answered a little too quickly.

"Elena." Caroline moaned.

"I'm not doing anything about it, don't worry."

* * *

><p>The conversation stuck with her as she drove home.<p>

The fact that she wasn't doing anything about what she had heard bothered her. She wasn't crazy, she wasn't paranoid, she was avoiding the issue, pretending she didn't hear what she knew she did.

With a new determination that she hadn't felt in days, she pressed her foot to the accelerator and sped home.

* * *

><p>She listened carefully as she entered the house, it sounded as though she were alone, there was no obvious evidence of anyone else being there. She quickly hung her coat up and kicked off her shoes before dashing up the stairs.<p>

She headed straight to Giuseppe's study and was pleasantly surprised to find the door unlocked. She let herself in and crept over towards the ornate oak desk. She felt a twinge of guilt for doing this; she had never been the sort of girl who rifled through people's drawers while they were out. She liked to think she had a little more decency than that. She found a loophole by telling herself that she had been given cause for suspicion and needed to make sure that her and her mother weren't being effected by whatever secret the Salvatore's were keeping.

The first couple of drawers held nothing of interest, just the usual stationary and check books, but the third was where she hit gold. Elena's heart picked up as she slowly sifted through the contents. A large manila folder caught her eye and she shifted some papers to get a better look at it. She gasped and stood up abruptly, her mouth going dry as she read the writing on the front.

_E. Gilbert_

Before she truly had time to react a noise from somewhere in the house distracted her. She quickly shoved everything back in place and dashed towards the library door. Before she left she turned to look at the room to see if she had left anything out of place.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

She whirled round and came face to face with a fuming Damon. As always when she saw him, her stomach dropped and she felt an unfamiliar ache in her chest.

"I was… I was just…" She stuttered, her eyes wide.

"Snooping around." He finished for her, his voice hard.

"N-no I…"

He cut her off, taking a step closer to her until their bodies were almost touching. Elena silently chastised herself when she felt her heart skip a beat at their proximity. Now was not the time to start entertaining _those _kinds of thoughts.

"You need to stop. Just let it go; some things are best left alone." His voice lost some of the hard edge as he gazed at her. "I mean it Elena." He said seriously, his eyes searching hers.

Before she could reply he stepped to the side and gestured towards the study door. She sighed but left the room, hearing him close it behind her.

Her heart was pounding as she made her way to her room, the image of her name on that ugly white folder heavy in her mind.

She hadn't even known what she was looking for; she had just known she needed to _look. _The last thing she expected was to find something about _her._

* * *

><p>Five hours later, Elena lay silently in her bed, straining her ears for any sounds around her.<p>

The house was silent, everyone was asleep, even Damon was for once quiet and alone in his room. taking care not to make any noise she slipped out of bed and pulled her dressing gown around her shoulders. She opened her door and cringed when it creaked as it swung. Holding her breath she tiptoed down the landing, her eyes trained on Damon's closed door. His room was the closest to hers and the last thing she needed was him to catch her 'snooping' again.

Although really snooping was exactly what she _was_ doing. She breathed a soft sigh of relief when she turned down the hall towards the study. She hesitated outside and crouched down to check whether there was any light coming from beneath the door. Having reassured herself that she was alone she clutched the cold handle in her hand and pushed the door open, slipping inside and closing it softly behind her.

Her hand shook as she took the folder from its drawer and set it on the desk. She opened it slowly and felt tendrils of fear snake up her spine as she began to read.

The folder was her life. everything about her, every grade she'd gotten since she started school, who her friends were, who she'd dated. What had happened to her father…and Jeremy. There was nothing missing, her entire life had been boiled down into a few sheets of paper. A few sheets of paper that was kept in her step-father's desk.

Tears stung her eyes and she pulled open the other drawers, rummaging around until she found what she was looking for. The identical folder to hers, an _M _replacing the _E_ on the front. M for Miranda.

She dropped the paper to the floor and stumbled to her feet. Her heart was beating faster than it ever had and a cold sweat forming in her palms.

A consuming fear and dread filled her to the core and she choked on a sob as she ran from the room. Who were these people she was living with? Whose house was she staying in? She felt more vulnerable than she ever had in that moment. All she wanted to do was get out of the house. She forgot all about trying to be quiet as she rushed into her room in search of her keys.

* * *

><p>She drove fast. Not really caring where she was going, she just needed to get far away. She hadn't even discovered what the Salvatore's were hiding but she had found out that her privacy, her <em>life<em> had been completely violated. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she choked on a sob as she realized that she had left her mom alone in the house with Giuseppe, and who knew what his agenda really was.

Despite what she had seen, it wasn't Damon she feared. Rationally she knew it should be, but despite how nasty he had been lately she had seen what he could be like. She couldn't bring herself to be scared of him, however hard she tried.

Her mind was too preoccupied to notice the rain pouring down around her. Her eyes were too blurred by tears to see the large pools of water on the road. She barely had time to react before the car aquaplaned, skidding out of control across the road.

* * *

><p><em><strong>I know I'm evil with the cliffhanger! But I updated a lot faster this time... ;) I've nearly wrapped up Bring Me Back To Life and I'm working on a new story now, but I am going to wait a while before I post it. I want to have quite a lot of chapters ready before I start uploading so I can update regularly :) It's another AUAH story... hopefully y'all will like it! xo**_

_**Don't forget to review! **_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

><p>The world was dark. She felt cold and lonely, surrounded by black numbness. She wanted to feel warm and safe, she wanted to understand where she was, what was happening.<p>

Tiny pin pricks of light began to make their way into her foggy brain, but with them came piercing shoots of pain. She became aware of something wet trickling down her forehead, a stabbing ache in her right hand and the feel of her tear soaked eyelashes resting against her cheeks. She struggled to open her heavy eyes and resist the urge to sink back into the nothingness that now seemed blissful.

She took in her surroundings, her confusion quickly turning to panic as she recognized that she was in a car, upside down. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision, her breath came in heaving gasps and her hands fumbling around her, searching for some way of escape.

The acrid smell of fuel made its way to her senses and her breath became faster as her eyes fell on the steady drip of gas beside her. She clawed at her belt, trying to free herself before the whole car turned into an inferno.

Her head was too heavy and her thoughts were too unclear, her brain wasn't working. She felt like she was trapped inside her own body, waiting to be burnt alive simply because she was incapable of saving herself.

Hot tears stung her eyes and she collapsed back against the seat, admitting defeat with a strangled sob.

Before she really had a chance to think about the fact that she was about to die, the sound of wheels on asphalt caught her attention. Her eyes flew open and she struggled to muster enough energy to scream for help. Her voice was too weak and dry to manage more than a cracked whisper.

The car stopped and she heard a door being slammed closed, then footsteps sprinting towards her. She tried to calm herself with the knowledge that someone was here to help, but her breathing still came in ragged gasps and her heart still raced like a freight train in her chest.

"Elena?" His yell was desperate and filled with fear.

She wondered if she had hallucinated hearing Damon's honey laced voice, because surely he couldn't be here.

She turned to her look to the side just as a black clad figure crouched down by her window. His vibrant blue eyes were filled with a disconcerting mixture of panic and relief as they ran over her, assessing her situation.

"Damon." She breathed his name in a sigh of complete relief. The sight of his concerned face was looking like the best thing she'd ever seen in her life.

She reached for him desperately, a sob rising in her throat as she tried to break through the fog in her brain to understand how it was possible that he was there.

"Ok, you're ok." He was murmuring softly, his expression serious.

"I think I skidded… I…saw something…" She stammered, her words as convoluted as her brain.

"Shh I've got you sweetheart." He whispered.

She found herself nodding tearfully, trusting him completely. He was here, she was going to be ok.

He took her hands in his and gently placed them on the roof of the car. He reached around her and gave her belt a yank, supporting her in his arms as it released her.

"There we go."

He hooked his hands under her arms and pulled her from the car, quickly carrying her a good distance from the car before setting her feat on the ground and wrapping an arm around her lower back to help stand her up.

She whimpered softly and clutched at his jacket, her eyes watery. She felt safe when she was in his arms, it was that warm feeling she'd been craving, she found it in his embrace.

"Where do you hurt Elena? I need you to tell me where you're hurting ok?" He was saying gently.

"My head." She whispered, reaching a weak arm up to wipe at the sticky trickle of blood that was dripping down her forehead. He gently pushed her arm away and examined the wound, his hands soft and reassuring against her skin.

"Anywhere else?" He murmured when he was done.

"My hand." Her voice was weaker and she was having trouble keeping her eyes open, she just wanted to sink into the easy blackness that was threatening her.

Damon gently took her hand in his, but seemed to notice her ever increasing struggle to stay upright.

"Stay with me Elena." He said quietly, a hand brushing down her face and cupping her chin, tilting her head up to look into his eyes. "Stay with me."

"It had my life in it. He knows everything about me, why does he know…" Her voice drifted to a halt as her eyes closed and her head lolled forward, resting against Damon's chest.

He quickly caught her before she fell to the tarmac, and scooped her up into his arms, cradling her protectively against his chest.

He considered his options, her head wound wasn't too serious but her hand was broken. She was going to need medical attention, but police involvement was something he shied from. Her car would blow any second anyway and someone would spot the explosion and call the police.

He father would have wanted him to put Elena safely on the side of the road, let the police arrive and draw their own conclusions, with no one ever being the wiser to his involvement. But as he gazed down at her angelic face resting against his arm, he couldn't bare the thought of just leaving her here. He needed her in his arms, he needed to reassure himself that she was ok, he needed to hold her, comfort her, understand what she had been talking about before she passed out. For the very same reason he had followed her tonight in the first place. He had watched from his window as she had run to her car, the moonlight making the tears on her cheeks sparkle in the darkness. It had been a split second decision to go after her, one that came from no where and was completely ill thought out. But she seemed to bring out some long-buried protective instinct in him, and he had a desperate urge to keep her safe.

He sighed, and stroked a finger down her silky smooth arm, weighing the pros and cons of what he wanted to do and what he should do.

The other sensible thing he _should_ do was drive her to the nearest hospital and leave her there safe and sound, leaving before anybody could ask him any unwanted questions. Reluctantly deciding that that was what he had to do, he walked quickly towards his car and settled her in the back seats.

* * *

><p>It wasn't until he reached the hospital and carried her through the automatic doors that he realized there was no way he was leaving her. To hell with the questions and consequences, nothing in the world could make him abandon Elena in a strange hospital in the middle of the night. There was something about her, so vulnerable and scared that made him want to bundle her up in his arms and never let her go, keeping her safe from all the dangerous things that surrounded her.<p>

He tried to follow as she was placed on a gurney and taken away from him, but he was held back by a stern looking doctor who was demanding to know what had happened. He sighed in irritation and decided to just tell the truth. All he wanted was to get back to Elena. She had been out of his sight for two seconds and he felt like he was going mad.

He didn't understand what it was about this girl that made him feel like this, she made him want to be better.

* * *

><p>"You helped me again." She murmured sleepily, her head resting against his shoulder.<p>

He gave a noncommittal grunt in response.

They were walking back to his car, or rather he was walking and she was sitting comfortably in his arms. Her hand had been set and put in a cast and she was discharged with instructions to not sleep for 12 hours and to give her statement to the police about the accident. She was too out of it on a mixture of pain meds to really understand what they were saying to her, but Damon listened.

"I like this Damon. I wish he would stick around more." She said suddenly.

"This Damon?" He asked, glancing down at her curiously.

"Yeah, the one who makes me feel safe… not the one who doesn't even say good morning to me anymore." She whispered.

He held her a little tighter.

"It's for the best." He muttered.

She raised her aching head to blearily look at him.

"How is ignoring me for the best? I'm trying to figure out what I did… I thought we were making progress, we were friends."

His eyes darkened, with what she was sure was pain.

"Oh Elena. You didn't do anything, you're…you're perfect . I'm just not the sort of person you should be friends with." He whispered.

She raised her eyebrows. Trying to ignore the way her stomach flipped when he complimented her.

"Says the guy taking care of me after I crashed my car."

He sighed in relief when they reached his camaro and the conversation was put on hold as he got her settled in the passenger seat.

"Damon please, just tell me what's going on." She said once they were both seated in the car.

He glanced at her appraisingly.

"I'll tell you why I can't be your friend, if you tell me what you were babbling about before you blacked out." He said with a halfhearted smirk.

Her eyes widened in recollection, as her mind flashed with the events that had led up to her crashing in the first place.

"Where are we going?" She asked, her good hand gripping her seat until her knuckles whitened.

"Back to my house." He replied, taking in her reaction with confusion.

Her breathing became faster and she shook her head desperately.

"No." She exclaimed. "I can't go back there. Please just take me anywhere else and I'll tell you what I saw." She silently prayed that he would answer her questions as well.

He nodded, and without a word, turned the car around and headed towards Mystic Falls' nicest hotel.

* * *

><p><em><strong>So who else screamed when we got our first real Delena kiss? I know I did! <strong>_

_**I know it was a long wait and this chapter was kinda badly written, I'm so sorry about that! I have been bouncing back and forth between family for the holidays and haven't really had a good chance to sit down and write! I'll try to get back on track now, I have one more 11 hour flight and then holidays are over and everything is back to normal :) I am wrapping up Bring Me Back To Life right now, I'm trying to decide whether or not to do a epilogue or not...but it should be completed within a couple of weeks either way. **_

_**Anyhow, hope you enjoy, and don't forget to review ;)**_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

><p>Elena had passed out again by the time they reached the hotel. Damon wasn't really sure he should be taking her there anyway, but with her sudden aversion to their house, he couldn't think of anywhere else.<p>

Her earlier words had resonated with him. The fact that she had been under the illusion that she had done something to push him away made his chest physically ache. He wanted nothing more than to let her into his life and keep her there forever, but for once in his life he was trying to do the right thing. He was trying to protect her, not just from the dangerous world she was on the edge of, but from himself.

He didn't know quite when it had happened, (he had a sneaking suspicion that it was the first time he ever saw her, sitting in a cupboard, staring up at him with her doe eyes.) but Elena Gilbert had found a place in his heart and there was no way to get her out.

It was disconcerting really; he had long since believed that he no longer had a heart, that he wasn't capable of feeling.

He hesitated by her door, contemplating what the right move here would be. Did he wake her up, did he let her sleep…?

Looking down at her angelic, sleeping face the decision was made for him and he gently scooped her into his arms, being careful not to jog her. She shifted and leant her head against his shoulder, sighing softly. Damon felt his heart melt just a little more at the sweet movement, she was like a kitten when she was asleep.

* * *

><p>The greeting he got a the hotel reception was less than warm, and honestly he didn't blame them. He was even unsure of this himself, he felt like he should be taking Elena home to her mother, not a hotel room with him in the middle of the night. He almost scoffed as that thought entered his head; that was literally the opposite of what he usually thought while holding an unconscious woman.<p>

After having convinced the old lady guarding the desk that he was not kidnapping Elena, but helping her, he managed to score a room. He was amazed that she didn't wake up, he guessed she'd been given some pretty intense painkillers.

* * *

><p>Damon spent that night pacing around the small hotel room, his mind whirring with every possibility of how this could turn out. She wanted answers, and he couldn't lie to her anymore. But then if he told her everything, he would have a whole new load of added worries; would she be safe? Would she run to the police? Would she be scared of him? He silently cursed his life for being so complicated. Why couldn't he just be some normal guy from some normal family, who sees a beautiful girl and falls in love with her? Why couldn't he be someone she could trust, someone worthy of her? Why couldn't he be free? It wasn't fair. It was killing him that he could never have what he wanted. He could never have a normal life with her, hell he shouldn't even think about her like that; he wasn't the sort of guy who got the girl.<p>

His mind drifted to Stefan, his brother, his tormentor. He was having his happily ever after somewhere in Washington. Last Damon heard he had graduated Georgetown, with Katherine loyally by his side. Katherine. The reason he was in this whole mess in the first place. She had ruined everything, she had destroyed him. He remembered the cruel smile on her face as she held up the evidence that would damn him for the rest of his life. She had caught him and she knew it, he knew it, they all knew it. And then all it took was a phone call to his father to set everything rolling. Stefan and Katherine left without a scratch, while he was left to face the wrath that his mistakes would bring down on him. Mistakes he had made while trying to help the two people he loved.

His eyes settled on Elena's sleeping form in the bed and he found himself wondering what he had ever seen in Katherine. She was cold and ruthless, she got what she wanted and she didn't care about anybody but herself. Except maybe Stefan.

But Elena was warm and soft and kind and gentle, and when she looked at him with her eyes glowing with trust, he couldn't even describe the way it made him feel. She made him want to be better, be someone worthy of seeing that look on such an angelic face. At this point he was so gone for her, he wasn't even trying to deny it anymore.

But he knew that when he told her everything, which he knew he had to, she would never look at him the same. Her eyes would be filled with fear and possibly hatred, she would be disgusted by him. As she should.

She mumbled softly in her sleep and he carefully climbed onto the bed next to her, stretching out his legs and settling a hand softly in her hair, soothing her back to sleep. Why couldn't he have this? He would be happy for all eternity if he could just have this every day.

* * *

><p>The next morning dawned foggy and confusing for Elena. She rolled over in the large, unfamiliar bed and was surprised to find a warm body pressed against hers. She blearily opened her eyes and came face to face with a sound asleep Damon; he was lying on top of the covers, fully dressed. She almost smiled at how peaceful he looked when he was sleeping, all his defenses were down.<p>

Her few moments of gazing were cut short when she remembered the night before. What she had found in Giuseppe's desk, panicking, running, crashing… Damon. Damon saving her, Damon holding her, Damon promising to explain everything.

She sat up abruptly and raked a hand through her tangled hair, her head was pounding and her mouth was dry. She stumbled out of bed and was relieved to see that she too, was fully dressed. Her shoes though, were sitting neatly by the door and her coat was slung over a chair.

She spent a few moments in the bathroom, splashing her face with cold water and trying to tame her hair. When she wandered back out, Damon was just waking up, he stretched his muscled arms and Elena had to resist the urge to lick her lips. He really was extraordinarily beautiful.

"Morning." She said softly.

He looked up at her and smiled.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?" He stood up stiffly and stretched again, Elena let her eyes wander down his body for a second before she snapped out of it. She could tell he'd noticed though.

"Like I crashed my car." She sighed, smirking very slightly.

He nodded and fumbled in his pocket for his phone, checking the time.

"Hey… I thought I wasn't supposed to go to sleep for a while! What time is it anyway?" She asked, frowning as she looked the sun streaming through the partially open curtains.

His eyes widened in horror.

"Shit! I completely forgot about that. My mind was all over the place, thank God you're ok!"

She shrugged and went to sit on one of the armchairs by the TV.

"It's fine, I think they just say that as a precaution anyway." She said.

"Still, I should've remembered." He stared at the floor with his face pulled into a deep frown.

"Damon you did more than enough. Really don't worry." She offered him a small smile and he nodded, accepting that there was no point in torturing himself over something that was done. "So…you said some things last night…" Elena continued, watching him studiously.

"So did you." He said, sitting back down on the bed.

"You said you would tell me everything." She pushed.

He sighed, this was the moment he'd been dreading.

"Elena, I can tell you what you want to know, but you're not going to like it, and I can promise you you'd be happier not knowing." He said quietly.

She shook her head.

"I need to know the truth, I know there's something and I know it's bad. That's why you're scared to tell me. But I can handle it." She pleaded, her eyes wide as she considered what the truth could be; she had run through so many scenarios in her head that now she was actually about to find out, she didn't know what to expect.

Damon was quiet for a long moment, his gaze fixated on the blank TV. Elena sat with bated breath, waiting for him to speak, and when he did, his voice was low and hard.

"I had an uncle when I was little. He would come around sometimes and there would be huge fights. My parents hated him, they told me he was a bad man and I should never trust him. Then my mom got sick. Giuseppe lost a lot of money in a bad deal and suddenly found himself with a sick wife, two kids and an empty bank account. My uncle started coming around even more after that, but they didn't fight, they just talked quietly. My mom hated it, but she was in hospital at that point so there was nothing she could do." He broke off and his eyes flickered to Elena.

She was practically on the edge of her seat as she listened. Her face a mix of sympathy and confusion.

"I didn't find out until I was 17, but my uncle was a 'crime sponsor.' He would fund bank jobs and prison break outs…for a cut of the money, or an enormous pay off. It was good business, he was very rich. Giuseppe hit a tough spot and he thought he had no other choice, so he went into business with him, he hated it but he did it to support his family. When my mom died, it was like he snapped, nothing seemed to matter anymore. Not me or Stefan, or morality, nothing. He became a partner in the business and threw himself into it, he didn't focus on anything else. I wasn't even aware of just how serious what he was doing was. I left for college when I was 18, leaving Stefan at home."

His eyes narrowed and it looked as though he was trying to get his thoughts together before he continued. Elena's heart was beating wildly in her chest, but she still felt the urge to run and wrap her arms around his stiff shoulders. It was clear how much telling this story hurt him. She doubted he'd ever willingly given it up before.

"I came back for the holidays, with my girlfriend of the time, and discovered that Stefan was in serious trouble. He'd overheard some stuff he shouldn't have, and had stolen something of my father's that would be very dangerous to him if it was exposed…To cut a long story short, I tried to help him only to have him and Katherine, my girlfriend, set me up and throw all the blame onto me. Giuseppe was furious with me, he said I'd put both our lives in danger. It turned out that someone he worked with, had gotten it into their head that the Salvatore sons were a threat, because of what Stefan had done. To prove that we were all on the same side, I was roped into working with them. I became a part of the family business and he sent Stefan away, Katherine went with him… I had no idea how bad the stuff my dad did was, until I became a part of it."

He had glazed over the details, but he figured she didn't need to know every painful moment of his gradual descent into misery.

There was a heavy silence when he stopped speaking. Elena was struggling to find thoughts, let alone words. She had been thinking more along the lines of CIA, not illegal crime bosses.

Still, she couldn't believe the nerve of Damon's brother, and this Katherine girl. She hated her already.

"I know it's a lot to take in. And I understand if you don't feel safe with me. I can drop you off at a friends house if you want." Damon said quietly, trying to get a read on her. She was sitting very still, absorbing everything he'd said.

"No. It's ok, I trust you." She whispered.

Hearing those words out of her mouth after everything he'd told her was unbelievable. He'd been so sure she'd run away screaming bloody murder and never look his way again.

She got up from the armchair and walked quickly across the room, sitting awkwardly down next to him and resting a hand on his.

"It wasn't your fault Damon. None of it is your fault." Her voice was soft, almost like a caress.

The simple sentence made his heart ache. Nobody had ever said that to him; nobody had ever not blamed him.

"I trust you, but I don't trust him." She admitted.

"I would never let anyone hurt you, especially not my father." He rushed to reassure her.

"I know that, I do. I just…need to understand." Her voice was a whisper and her eyes were wide, he found himself thinking that he would tell her anything if she would just keep looking at him like that.

"Does he love my mom?"

The fact that out of everything he had told her, the one thing she picked at was whether or not Giuseppe's feelings for her mother were real, was such a testimony to her character.

"The FBI have been building a case… He thought it would throw them off. He doesn't fit the profile if he has a wife and stepdaughter." Damon said honestly, hating the sad look in her eyes. She looked so small and confused and lost.

"Elena, look at me." He tilted her chin up with his finger and looked at her carefully. "If you want to go to the police right now, and tell them everything that I just told you, that's ok. I'll understand."

"But then you would get in trouble." She gasped, shaking her head at the suggestion.

He almost smirked, trouble didn't quite cover it. He had sugar coated the actual business side of what he did. She didn't need to know the details, but the cops would.

"We'll figure this out Damon. I'll help you, I know you don't want to be a part of this. I'll help you and then everything will work out and we'll all be safe. Ok?"

Damon stared at her in absolute awe.

How was it possible that he found such an angel?

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sorry this took such a long time! It was a pretty important chapter, and it took me ages to write! <strong>_

_**Tell me what you guys think about the family business and everything that Damon said, did I go in the right direction with this? Was it what you were expecting? **_


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

><p>They were quiet after their talk. Elena needed time to process everything he had told her, and Damon wanted to give her space to come to her own conclusions. The police had called him twice already about her car accident. He had left his number as her contact information at the hospital, so they wouldn't call Miranda and panic her for no reason. He knew he needed to take her home though, she needed to see her mother and explain where she had been and what had happened.<p>

Elena was reluctant to return to the boarding house, if only for the reason that she was absolutely terrified of Giuseppe. She had been wary of him before she had learned the truth and now the very though of him scared her nearly to death.

The car ride home was silent and heavy. Elena thought about trying to start a conversation but found herself at a loss for what to say. There was too much between them left unsaid and for some reason that made it impossible to say anything at all.

Her hand throbbed in it's cast and her head was beginning to ache.

She leant against the leather seat and looked out of the window as they headed home. _Their _home. Their parents home. Their parents who were together. She didn't think she had ever felt this confused by anything in her life. Before she had known the truth, she had been burying the feelings that were unconsciously rattling around her. She had seen the way Damon treated her, he didn't want her, didn't care about her. He was cold and rude and unkind and so she hid from the unfamiliar pull she felt to him. But now, when he opened up to her, looked at her like she was the only girl in the world, and told her everything, she felt a need to take him in her arms and never let go. It was like her heart was drawing her towards him and there was nothing she could do about it.

She knew that really she should stay far away from him. The things he had told her were enough to make any sane girl run for the hills, but for some reason she was rooted to the spot. Her heart wasn't listening to her mind and however hard she tried to convince herself otherwise, she wasn't sure she wanted it to. It was wrong on so many levels, the way she was feeling about him. Not only was he a criminal, he was her _stepbrother_.

The word felt foreign and strange, like a dirty word that she wasn't quite comfortable with.

The car pulled into the boarding house drive and Elena pushed her thoughts into the back of her mind. She had other things to focus on, more important things. She ignored the little voice that whispered that there _was _nothing more important.

"Home sweet home." Damon said dryly, drawing to a stop outside the house.

Elena chuckled awkwardly and avoided his eyes as she got out of the car. She frowned when he didn't follow.

"Aren't you coming?" She asked, turning back and finally meeting his cobalt gaze.

He shook his head slightly.

"I've got things I need to take care of." He said quietly.

Her eyes widened and she wondered how many years in jail the _things _he needed to do could land him. She shifted her feet and made no move to go into the house.

"You'll be fine Lena. Your mom's home." He said, nodding towards Miranda's car.

She sighed, and didn't correct him about the reason for her hesitation. She ignored the way her heart skipped a beat at the affectionate nickname that seemed to fall so naturally from his mouth.

She finally forced her legs to move and with a brief smile, turned to the front door.

"Be careful." She said quietly, looking back at him from the porch.

She didn't miss the brief flash of surprise on his face, before he smirked and nodded carelessly. He started the engine and drove off, leaving her standing nervously outside the boarding house.

She rang the bell, she had no idea where her keys were. A minute later the door flew open and she was engulfed in her mother's arms.

She returned the embrace feeling tears fill her eyes, she had missed her mom over the last few weeks.

"Elena where the hell have you been?" Miranda pulled away and held her at arms length, her face a mixture of relief and anger.

"I'm so sorry I didn't call, I just…"

She broke off as Miranda's eyes fell on her bandaged hand.

"What happened?" She gasped, pulling her into the house and closing the door behind them.

"I crashed my car." Elena said in a rush, like removing a band-aid.

Her mother's face paled and she sat her down in the kitchen, looking shocked and furious.

"What? When? Are you ok?"

The questions were making her headache worse, and Elena closed her eyes briefly before answering.

"Last night, I'm fine. But I think there's some paperwork…insurance and everything." She mumbled. Damon had said something about the police calling him for more details.

"Elena slow down and tell me what happened. Start to finish." Miranda said firmly, her old no nonsense voice making it's first appearance in months.

"I was driving last night and I skidded in the rain, Damon found me and took me to the hospital." She said simply, desperately wanting to go back to bed and sleep.

"Damon?"

"Yeah, he took care of me." Her voice came out softer than she'd intended.

"So you've been in hospital all night? Why didn't anyone call me?" Miranda seemed to have an endless string of questions.

"Yeah, I don't know, I was sleeping…I guess they forgot." She murmured lamely, hating the lies.

When did she become the sort of person who lied to their family?

* * *

><p>Damon drove fast, needing to clear his head. He had really gotten himself into a mess this time. He was in love with a girl he couldn't have, a girl that it was so wrong for him to be in love with in the first place. But it didn't really matter to him that she was his seventeen-year-old stepsister. What mattered was that she was perfect, she was the sort of girl who would light up someone's world. But that someone could never be him. She was too good, far too good to ever be with him. He didn't want to hurt her, break her, corrupt her, and he would undoubtedly. That's what he did; he took beautiful things and broke them. He didn't want that for Elena, he didn't want to ruin her life.<p>

And yet he wanted so desperately to be a part of her, he wanted to throw caution to the wind and forget everything that made it wrong…

He promised himself there and then that he would never be selfish with her. He would never put his own desires before her wellbeing. He would never break her.

He felt a sting of bitter anger in his chest, and for the first time in years he found himself desperately wishing that he was a different person. Someone worth loving.

* * *

><p>It was late by the time he finally got home. He had spent the evening and most of the day at the grill catching up with his friend Alaric, and drinking copious amounts of bourbon.<p>

He noticed Elena's light shining from under her door as he made his way to his room. He frowned and checked the time on his phone. It was after two. Before he could stop himself, he knocked lightly at her door.

"Come in." He soft voice called.

He opened the door, and she smiled at the sight of him.

She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, her laptop on her knees.

"Can't sleep?" He asked, for lack of anything better to say.

She shook her head and narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're drunk." She accused, taking in his slightly haggard appearance.

He shrugged and walked a bit further into the room.

"Guilty."

She sighed and got up, taking his arm and leading him to her bed. She gestured for him to sit and then turned to leave the room.

"Stay there." She instructed, before running downstairs. She got him a glass of water and fished a couple of aspirin out of her bag before going back to her bedroom.

She handed him the glass and painkillers and he looked at her quizzically.

"I'm trying to lessen the hangover you're going to have tomorrow." She explained in a slightly disapproving voice.

He obediently swallowed them and drank some water, watching her as she wandered over to the window. She noticed something outside and whirled around to glare at him accusingly.

"You _drove_?" She gasped, her eyes wide and angry.

"Elena, I'm not that drunk." He said, rolling his eyes.

She scowled at him.

"Yes you are. I can smell whiskey from here." She spat.

He shrugged and lent against the end of her bed, observing her rapidly changing expressions with interest.

She seemed to decide that it wasn't worth the fight, and sat back down, closing her laptop.

"It was reckless." She mumbled.

The truth was, the idea of him getting hurt terrified her. The thought of something happening to him made it hard for her to breathe.

He didn't reply, his eyes were fixed on the floor and his face was pulled into a frown.

"Why were you drinking?" She asked softly after a while, leaning against the opposite end of the bed and watching him.

"I was thinking about our little talk." He murmured, not lifting his eyes from their spot on the carpet.

"Oh?" It was the same reason she was still awake. She was exhausted but her mind was too busy to go to sleep.

"I don't know what to do Elena." His words were so quiet she thought she might have imagined them.

She had never known Damon not to be sure of himself. If there was one thing he always was, it was confident.

"You said we would fix this, that everything would work out…But I don't see how it can." He knew he shouldn't be saying this to her. He shouldn't be offloading his worries onto Elena of all people, but he couldn't seem to stop himself.

Elena was quiet for a long moment, her heart aching for the man in front of her. He was so hurt, so confused and all she wanted to do was rescue him and heal him, but she didn't know how.

"I don't know how it can yet, either." She admitted quietly. "But I know that we will, we will fix this. You and I… I'll help you with whatever you need."

He looked up at that and met her gaze, his eyes stormy.

"You don't understand what I've done, if you did you wouldn't want anything to do with me."

She moved so she was sitting beside him, not quite touching but close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body.

"I know you've done bad things Damon. But I don't blame you…I forgive you. And I want to help you." She whispered.

He appeared to be at a loss for words. And when he finally broke out of his trance his face was calmer, more peaceful.

He stood up and brushed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Good night Elena. Try to get some sleep."

With that he left her room, closing the door softly behind him.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Delena seriously needs to happen ASAP in this story! Don't worry I'm getting there :)<em>**

**_Don't forget to review~ _**

**_And follow me on twitter ( serenasdreams ) for updates on stories...etc._**

**_x_**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

* * *

><p>As exhausted as she was, sleep was a long time coming for Elena. She'd spent most of the day at the police station with her mom, explaining what had happened and dealing with the insurance people. She hadn't really had a chance to think. And when she finally did, she found her mind so filled with thoughts that try as she might, she couldn't get them to go away. Damon's little midnight visit hadn't helped of course.<p>

As it was, by the time the sun rose she'd had at most a couple of hours sleep, and it was a school day. She barely managed to get dressed properly, and completely forgot about breakfast. Caroline came to pick her up and she fell asleep on the short car journey. She was in for a long day.

* * *

><p>Damon didn't sleep a wink that night. He tossed and turned, his mind replaying the last few days over and over. He was in a double bind, he didn't know what to do. The only thing he really knew for sure was that he couldn't keep on working for his father. Whether or not that was because of his unexplainable feelings for Elena, didn't really matter. He was done being the person he'd been forced to be for years, he was done being afraid of Giuseppe.<p>

He had tried to build up the courage to just walk away from him before, but had always failed. He hoped that this time he could follow it through, and he though he had a good chance. He had a reason now, a reason he'd never had before. He had someone he wanted to be better for. He knew it wasn't as simple as just telling Giuseppe he quit, but it was a start at least.

He found his father in his study, hunched over his desk with a grim expression on his face.

"What do you want Damon?" He asked irritably, seeing him standing in the doorway.

The only time Damon was ever unsure of himself was when he was in his Giuseppe's presence. This was the man who had single handedly taken away everything that he had cared about.

"We need to talk." He said stiffly, standing stock still by the door.

"I don't have time."

He felt like a surge of rage rush through him at the casual blow off. Who the hell did he think he was?

"I'm done with this." He spat, surprising himself. He had meant to build up to that, ease into it a little.

This got his father's attention, his eyes snapped up and narrowed.

"What did you say?" Giuseppe's voice was smooth and hard, it had the power to put fear into even the bravest of men. But Damon held his ground.

"You have been ordering me around since the day I was born. And I have never stood up to you. I have never said that enough is enough. But right now… That's what I'm doing."

Giuseppe stood up and moved around from behind his desk.

"I don't have time for your games Damon." He said darkly.

"I'm not playing a game. I'm telling you it's over. I won't work for you any more." Damon said simply.

"Please, you're too weak to walk away. If you were ever going to, you would have done it years ago. Now shut up and stop wasting my time."

Damon resisted the urge to punch him in the face and actually managed to keep his voice level.

"You're right. I was weak, I was too damn scared of you to do anything. But you know what? I'm not anymore. I can stand here and tell you that there is no way in hell I will ever work with you again."

Giuseppe tried and failed to hide his surprise, he watched Damon contemplatively, trying to figure out where this outburst had stemmed from.

"Is this about the Gilbert girl? From what I hear you've been quite the white knight when it comes to her." He said finally.

Damon's face paled ever so slightly and his heart clenched.

"It has nothing to do with Elena. It's about me." He said firmly, trying to hold his father's eyes.

"Are you sure? Because if I remember correctly the last conversation like this we had was centered around your disapproval of my treatment of the Gilberts." He said calmly.

Damon gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep his cool.

"This is _not _about them. Whatever I feel for El…"

"See, you just proved that it _is_ about her. Everything is about her. I think marrying that damn woman might have been the worst mistake I have ever made." Giuseppe snarled, staring him down.

"You know what? Rationalize all you like, I'm done with you, I'm done with this life. I don't care what you think any more. It's over." He hissed, meeting his equally icy gaze.

He turned to leave, hoping that for once maybe his father would just listen, and understand, and let him go. He knew it was unlikely. If it was that easy he would have left years ago.

"At least Miranda has been useful. _Elena _on the other hand has been nothing but trouble. I'm sure I could find some way for her to make it up to me…"

He said it quietly, but Damon heard him loud and clear. He saw red, he knew that Giuseppe was just trying to goad him, but rational thinking went out the window as he whirled back around to face his father.

"You married Miranda to keep up appearances, to keep yourself safe. You use her and she doesn't even know the half of it. But I will _not _allow you to use Elena." Damon yelled, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"Don't be so melodramatic Damon." Giuseppe sighed, turning back to his desk as though bored by the conversation.

"I'm not being melodramatic! She is seventeen years old. You stay the hell away from her. I will not let you involve her in your world." Damon grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around, his eyes fiery.

"It's your world too Damon. Or did you forget that? You want to ride off into the sunset with your schoolgirl? You're the one dragging her into this. And if she gets hurt, it'll be on your conscience." He pulled out of his grasp and walked to the door, holding it open.

"It's time for you to go."

Damon brushed passed him.

"Don't forget what I said, because I wasn't kidding. We're done." He said as he left, catching his father's eye briefly.

There was almost a hint of something other than pride and anger. For a second he imagined he could see something resembling regret in those stone cold green eyes. He walked away before he could be sure.

He felt almost unsteady on his feet as he went upstairs. He couldn't believe he had just done that. Sure the conversation hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped, but he'd stood his ground. He hadn't backed down…

Giuseppe's comment about Elena stuck with him though. He knew it was true, he was dragging her down by getting her involved in his life. He had risked her safety when he had told her the truth. He had already put her in danger just by talking to her.

He wondered if he should leave, just get the hell out of Mystic Falls and start a new life somewhere else. But he knew he couldn't, because ultimately that wouldn't be helping Elena any. Leaving her alone in this house with Giuseppe was not an option. Especially after his ill disguised threat. He could tell her to go to the police and tell them everything she knew, and then he could run. Knowing that she was safe and protected. It made sense, but the thought still hurt.

He wasn't stupid enough to believe that his father was just going to let him walk away. But he was sure he could handle whatever he threw at him, he was prepared, and he wasn't going to give up.

He paused as he passed Elena's bedroom door. She was at school and would be for several more hours, but he felt a sudden urge to be close to her. If he was going to gather up the will power to do the right thing and leave…

He slipped inside and looked around. He hadn't really noticed her room the other times he had been in there. He'd been too preoccupied by her. But now he took his time.

She had a little dressing table covered in framed photos. There was Miranda and a man he guessed was her dad on their wedding day, the three of them at the beach quite recently, smiling and posing goofily for the camera. All the rest were of a little boy he didn't recognize. In one of them he was with a little baby Elena. She had lots of curly dark hair and chubby rosy cheeks, she was cradling the little boy in her lap and giggling sweetly at the person taking the photo. He must have been her brother. Damon wondered what had happened to him, Elena had never even mentioned that she'd had a brother. There were no pictures of him looking any older than about ten or eleven, so he guessed the story didn't have a happy ending.

He moved away from the photos and slumped down on the bed, kicking his boots off. She had a little teddy that she'd neatly placed on her pillows, he picked it up and looked at it, it was practically falling apart with age and over use. He found himself smiling, little things that used to annoy him about other girls he now found adorable about Elena.

He closed his eyes and wondered how he'd managed to get himself into this mess. And how the hell he was supposed to get out.

He didn't even realize he'd fallen asleep until her soft "Oh!" Woke him.

Elena was walking into her room looking at him in confusion.

"Are you ok?" She asked, dropping her school bag on a chair.

He sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, sorry…" He muttered, moving to get up.

She shrugged.

"It's ok. You look like you've got something on your mind, care to share?"

Damon was surprised by how well she was reacting to finding him asleep on her bed, but decided not to push it. He stood up and leant against the wall, she took his place on the bed and curled her legs under her, looking at him expectantly.

"I spoke to Giuseppe today." He started, watching her carefully.

Her eyes widened.

"Oh?" Her voice was soft, and full of ill-disguised hope.

"I told him I was done." He said, his face breaking into a smile that he couldn't hold back.

"Are you serious?" She gasped, her answering grin huge.

"I said that I'd had enough and I refused to work for him any longer." He could see by her face that she thought that was the end of it, that he was free. He didn't contradict her, it was a nice delusion to have.

"Oh my god Damon!" Before she could stop herself, she was up and throwing herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close to her.

"I'm so proud of you." She whispered into his neck.

He was stiff in her arms for a few moments before she felt him relax, he pulled her even closer and held her gently against him as though he were afraid she was going to disappear.

They stayed like that for what felt like years, but when Elena finally pulled back, it was too soon for both of them.

Without unwrapping her arms from around his neck she moved away just enough to look him in the eyes.

"I'm so, so proud of you." She said again.

He seemed to be at a loss for words, his eyes fixed on hers with an expression resembling wonder.

She found herself inching closer to him, her gaze flickering to his lips. She wanted nothing more than to kiss him in that moment. Hell, she'd wanted to kiss him for a long time, but now with his face so close to hers, and his lips just slightly parted, the fantasy seemed so much more real.

"Elena…" He began, his voice a mixture of a warning and a question.

She hesitated for the briefest of seconds, her eyes scanning his face, searching for something that would tell her what to do. Before she could find it, he ducked his head and his lips were on hers.

She felt a tremor go through her whole body at the soft touch. It was barely a kiss, more like an intimate caress, a caress that set her whole body on fire.

His lips were warm and seemed to melt perfectly into hers, she didn't think anything could ever feel like this. She felt truly alive for the first time in as long as she could remember.

Damon's hand reached up to tangle in her long hair, pulling her closer, deeper. He nudged her bottom lip between his teeth and gently nibbled at it before soothing the spot with his tongue. She gasped softly against him and he wondered if this was what heaven felt like. As cheesy as it sounded, he didn't think he could pinpoint one other moment in time that was as surreally perfect as this one.

She tasted like rose lip balm and chocolate, and she was everything that was beautiful in his world. He didn't think he could ever get enough of her.

Far too soon, her need for oxygen forced her to pull away.

Her eyes were dark and slightly hazy as they gazed into his. Her lips were swollen and red and her cheeks were flushed. She had never looked more beautiful.

"Damon." She whispered, almost involuntarily.

She licked her lips and he nearly lost it right there, she was so damn perfect. He could never leave Mystic Falls now. Damn her.

He disentangled himself from her arms that were still draped around his neck and stood up. He shoved his hands in his pockets and his eyes drifted over her face, as though committing the image to memory.

"That shouldn't have happened." He said softly, watching as her expression instantly changed from dazed to wounded. "I'm sorry." He turned to leave the room, his heart aching with each step.

Kissing her was like Christmas morning when you were five. That feeling of fluttering excitement mixed with complete happiness. But it _shouldn't_ have happened. He knew that better than anyone.

Elena jumped off the bed, not sure what she was going to do but knowing that she needed to do _something. _She had just had the most perfect moment of her life, he couldn't pull away from her after that. It was too cruel.

"Damon wait!"

She grabbed his arm and pulled him round to face her, he looked down at her with an almost vulnerable expression.

"Please just… It _should _have happened… I'm glad it did." She stammered, her eyes pleading with him to just listen, and understand that she wanted him, wanted this.

He cupped her face with his hands, his thumbs gently brushing against her cheekbones.

"Elena." He murmured, dragging her name out, savoring each syllable. "We can't do this."

"Why?" She didn't understand why he was fighting this, didn't he feel it too? Didn't that kiss make him feel like flying up to the stars and singing for for joy? Because that's what it had done for her.

"God Elena, so many reasons I can't even count...You're my stepsister, you're seventeen, you're…" His voice was insistent but she could see that he wasn't even convincing himself.

"None of those things matter. You know that!" Her hands slid up to clutch at the collar of his shirt, keeping him in place, not ready to let him go until he had explained or listened or _something. _

"What does matter is who we are. I've worked for my father for years, I'm not a good person, I'm not the sort of man you need. Or deserve." He was growing angry, she wasn't sure whether with her or with himself, but it still hurt.

"But you got out! You don't do that anymore. And shouldn't I be the judge of what sort of man I deserve?" Her voice began to rise and she felt her cheeks flush with her own anger.

"_Today _Elena. I got out today. That doesn't exactly absolve me." He yelled, taking a step back.

She missed the contact instantly.

"So you just get to make the decision for me? You decide that I'm better off without you and that's it?"

"That's not what I said, I'm not going anywhere! I'll still be your friend, be here for you… We just, shouldn't turn this into something that it isn't." He finished flatly, the fight going out of his voice.

She felt like the wind had been kicked out of her.

"Fine. If that's how you feel… We'll just pretend it never happened." The words hurt her more than she'd ever care to admit, but she wasn't going to pine over someone who clearly didn't want her that way.

He nodded, his eyes not meeting hers, and turned to leave. He brushed a hand down her cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before walking out.

She stood staring at the doorway long after he'd left, feeling shell shocked and slightly broken.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Finally they kissed! And then it all went wrong lol. Sorry :{ <strong>_

_**They have a bit of a bumpy journey to go on, but it'll be worth it I hope! **_

_**See that review button? ;) **_

_**- X**_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"What do you expect me to do? …. I never thought he'd actually do it either but…. He's still my son. …. It doesn't, but it remains a fact. …. I've proven to you for years where my loyalties lie, can't you just let this one go? You win some you lose some... No I didn't mean…. You know I can't do that. …. He's my _son_. …. Yes…. Yes of course. …. Yes, I understand….. but I…. yes sir…. I will do sir."

Giuseppe hung up the phone with a heavy heart. He closed his eyes and forced the small part of him that still felt anything worth feeling, down. He knew he didn't have a choice. His decisions hadn't been his own for years now. He silently cursed Damon for being so damn cocky and putting him in this situation. If he'd just bit the bullet and carried on doing as he had been for years, none of this would be happening.

It was one decision Giuseppe knew his son was going to regret for the rest of his life. He grit his teeth at the prospect of what he was about to do and forced away the tug of remorse in his throat. He picked up the phone again and dialed.

* * *

><p>Elena lay in bed, with tears softly slipping down her cheeks. She knew it was a bit pathetic to be crying, but sometimes everything just overwhelmed her. Damon had broken a little piece of her with his clear dismissal that night, and she wasn't sure how to fix it. She wished she had someone she could talk to about everything, but Caroline was still recovering from her own trauma, and her mother was so distant she barely knew her these days. She didn't have anyone else who she knew well enough to be able to open up to. Bonnie was a good friend, but they'd never been close enough to have deep heart to hearts. She tended to be judgmental of things she didn't approve of and Elena had a feeling that Damon would be one of those things. She didn't need someone making her feel <em>worse <em>about how she felt about him, she felt crappy enough as it was.

She reached for her bedside clock and squinted through the darkness to see the time. She groaned, she had to get up for school in a few short hours; another night had passed with her not getting nearly enough sleep. What the hell was Damon doing to her? At this rate she was going to end up turning into some sort of nocturnal vampire. She slumped back against her pillows and tried to force herself to sleep, ignoring the ache in her chest and the tears on her cheeks.

She must of drifted off at some point, because what felt like just a few seconds later she was aroused by the angry beeping of her alarm. Her eyes felt sore and scratchy as she forced them open, and she resisted the urge to just pull her duvet over her head and hide from the world. Hiding from her problems was not the answer; they'd still be there when she finally got up the courage to face them anyway. She groaned and began the usual routine of getting ready, praying that at least she could make it out of the house without bumping into Damon. Hope for the small mercies right?

She left home early (luckily without any confrontations) and drove slowly towards school, she had taken Miranda's car, she'd told her she could the day before as hers was still at the shop.

Her hands white knuckled against the steering wheel as she tried to force her mind away from the man who was plaguing her every waking (and sleeping) thought. Somewhere between him being an dick to her and saving her, she had fallen. And fallen hard. She was a sensible girl. The good girl. She had hardly even dated before. She had had a thing with Matt Donovan for a while, but they'd known each other for so long that it was all very undefined. And it had never gone beyond kissing. The feelings she was experiencing were new and foreign an scary. But mostly painful. Because really, she knew it would never go anywhere. She was a school girl and he was a _man, _he was worldly and experienced and saw her as his little stepsister who came with so much emotional baggage that it was almost ridiculous.

Her stomach grumbled, interrupting her thoughts and she pulled over at a takeout to grab some breakfast before school. She had been in such a rush to leave the house that she hadn't bothered.

She parked her car and walked towards the diner, jingling her keys in her hand.

And then the world went black.

* * *

><p>Damon stumbled through he boarding house door at around six, after a day of dodging calls and fruitlessly trying to drown his sorrows in whiskey. He was fucking himself over, and he knew it. He needed to be alert and prepared for whatever his dad tried to throw at him this time, but his mind was elsewhere. Somewhere he really didn't want it to be.<p>

Miranda ran up to him almost as soon as the door closed behind him. Her face was etched with worry and she looked like she was about to cry.

"Is she with you? Please God tell me she's with you!" She begged. Her eyes were pleading and her hands were shaking as she grabbed his arm.

Damon frowned at her in confusion for a few seconds before understanding began to settle in. _She._ His slightly foggy brain began to clear and he gulped down the immediate panic that rose in his chest. _She_ as in…

"Elena?" He whispered, her look of distress at the name confirmed his fears.

"What happened?" His heart began to beat faster and he felt distant and unsteady as he waited for Miranda to explain. Her voice sounded echo-y when she began to talk and he felt like he was far, far away, watching from a distance.

"She never showed up at school, she's not with any of her friends, she's not answering her phone…She's been gone for nearly eleven hours." The woman dissolved into tears and sagged against the hallway wall.

Damon felt a knot of dread settle in his stomach and tears of pure fear sprang to his own eyes. This was exactly why he had pushed her away. _This was it. _The thing that he'd been terrified of.

He forced down his panic, turning to the scared woman beside him.

"Are you sure there's no where she could be, someone she might have met up with… anything?" He asked, trying to stop his voice from shaking. If there was one moment in time he needed to put his own feelings aside to focus on the task at hand, this was it.

"I've tried everyone she knows, I checked all her hideouts and haunts and nothing. She's gone. I even went to the graveyard, she goes there to sit with Jeremy sometimes…but…you were my last option." She sobbed.

"Could she have just taken off? Gone out of town for a break maybe?" The words sounded empty even to himself.

"The only time she's every disappeared without telling me was when she was with _you _and well…you know about that better than I do. Damon, they found my car at a drive-thru. It was empty." She sobbed and slipped down the wall so she was sitting huddled on the hallway floor.

There was a moment of silence as Damon digested that news. Every single emotion seemed to flit through him, fear, sadness, regret, desperation, and then finally rage. Rage at the man he knew was responsible, rage like something he'd never felt before. It consumed him, ate him alive and filled every pore until he could barely see for the pure fury emanating from him.

He raced up the stairs to his father's office like the devil was at his heels, ignoring Miranda's distressed cries. He burst through the door, startling Giuseppe from where he was hunched over his computer.

"What the hell did you do?" Damon yelled. His voice sounded out of control and erratic even to himself.

His father's face paled almost unnoticeably but he remained stonily silent.

"Where is she?" Damon grabbed Giuseppe's collar and yanked him up, with sheer hatred in his eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about." His father spluttered indignantly, struggling to pull out of his son's vice like grip.

Damon slammed him against the wall; he knew it was a lie.

"What did you do to her?" He shouted, his whole body quivering with a mixture of dread and horror.

"Nothing Damon! I didn't do anything to her." Giuseppe yelled back.

Damon ignored him.

"Is this your way of getting back at me? I knew you wouldn't just let me walk away, I knew you'd pull some trick. But why her? Out of all the shit you could have thrown at me you choose her?" His fist slammed into the wall beside Giuseppe's head and he flinched. "Answer me you pathetic son of a bitch!" He screamed.

"I didn't have a choice." His father finally shouted, making Damon's eyes darken even more.

"Yes you did! There's always a choice. Always." He spat back, a hand slipping around his father's neck and tightening imperceptibly.

"Where is she?" His voice was hard and cold and filled with so much hatred that Giuseppe's eyes flashed with regret.

"I didn't have a choice." He mumbled again, looking almost ashamed.

"Where is she?" Damon pressed harder against his throat and stared him down until he was gasping for breath.

"I don't know." He spluttered. "I-I told them to take her somewhere quiet... where nobody would hear."

Damon pulled back and slammed his fist into his father's face. His nose crunched painfully against his hand and blood began to spurt onto the floor.

He was screaming profanities and abuse and everything seemed to be in slow motion. _Somewhere quiet, where nobody would hear. _The implications of that made him want to throw up. He had never been so angry in his entire life. He was almost certain he could murder his father in that moment. He had never hated somebody so much.

He was vaguely aware of Miranda running in and screaming at him to stop. He felt one of her small, trembling hands grab his arm and resisted the instinct to bat her away. Whatever state he was in, he wasn't about to hit a woman. He let his father drop to the ground, where he collapsed in an undignified heap and turned to look at her. His eyes were glassy and his muscles were tensed and she stared at him with pure fear in her eyes.

He held up his hands in surrender, to show that he wasn't going to harm her.

"I'll get her back." He promised fervently. "I'm going to get her back."

She nodded nervously and her eyes drifted to Giuseppe.

"I don't know what's going on. But please find my baby girl." She whispered.

He nodded and took off at a run down the stairs. He would do whatever it took, he would turn the world upside down to get Elena back safely. And if she was hurt he wouldn't stop until whoever laid a finger on her paid for it.

* * *

><p>His phone rang as he ran to his car and he picked it up with fumbling fingers, not speaking until he heard the person on the other end.<p>

"You rethought your untimely resignation yet?" A gravelly male voice asked quietly.

Damon stopped in his tracks and his fingers tightened around his phone.

"Who is this?" He asked roughly.

"I'm going to take that as a no. Oh well, I guess it's time for us to bring out the big guns."

Damon opened his mouth to answer, threaten, _something, _but was cut off.

"You see, you have a weakness. And lucky for us, we have her in our possession."

Damon's head snapped up and his eyes hardened.

"No." He breathed.

"Would you like a word with your sweet little Elena?" His voice was sickly, and made his skin crawl.

He swallowed compulsively as he heard some scuffling and a soft whimper on the other end.

"Damon?" Elena's panic filled voice filled his ear and his heart clenched. He needed her safe in his arms, he needed her where he knew that no harm would ever come to her, he hated how out of control he felt.

"Elena you're going to be fine, I promise you're going to be fine." He desperately tried to reassure her, praying with all his heart that that was a promise he wouldn't have to back out of. It was a promise he _couldn't _back out of.

"Please don't do anything stupid." She whispered, her voice cracking.

He felt like screaming. She was being held against her will, god knows where, used as a leverage and she was worried about _him. _It was so Elena and so endearing and so heartbreaking.

"Do you know where you are?" He asked, ignoring her silly request.

"I don't think so." The rough voice of her captor came back on the line. "You can get your little schoolgirl back when you agree to my demands."

"You're not going to hurt her." Damon said stiffly, trying to keep his voice strong. "She's your only leverage, you won't hurt her." He was almost trying to convince himself.

"Really?"

He hesitated. What was he doing? This was _not _a bluff he wanted to call.

"I think little Elena has one too many fingers…don't you?"

There was a dark chuckle on the other end of the line and Damon's heart stopped.

"No, no, no please!" He yelled, but it was too late, a loud crack echoed around through his head and then his ears were filled with the sound of Elena's screams. He felt tears running down his face as he tried desperately to get control of himself.

"Elena!" He shouted. "You sonofabitch!"

"Tell us what we need to know, or we'll break every last one of her fingers. Then we'll start on her toes."

"Ok. Ok I'll do whatever you want, just please stop hurting her. Don't hurt her, please." He was begging and he didn't care.

"Your father will initiate you back into the job. But it will be slightly different this time, you'll do as he says, when he says. You will not question what you are asked to do. You will follow his orders and fulfil your job description to the best of your ability. Do you understand."

Damon shuddered. While he had done what his father had told him for the most part, he had never followed his orders to that degree.

"Do you understand?" The voice barked down the line.

Damon clenched his teeth, there was no way he could fulfill those demands. But there was no way he could stand by and let Elena be hurt.

"And if I agree? You let her go?"

"You have my word."

"And if I don't agree?"

"Well there are some men here who have been dying to sample this sweet girl of yours…I mean she has one fine–"

"Enough. I'll do it." Damon cut him off before he could finish his sentence, unable to even let the image of what he was implying infiltrate his mind. If he did, he would lose it, and he couldn't afford to do that right now.

"Do I _have your word_?"

"Yes. And you'll let her go? You won't hurt her?"

"We'll leave her right here. I'll call in half an hour and give you her location."

"Fine. But I swear to god. If I find that you've lied to me I'll-"

"That goes both ways son. We've made a deal. The consequences you will face if you back out of it, are something you don't even want to think about."

"We have a deal." Damon said stiffly.

The phone went dead and he stood there, in the boarding house driveway, feeling like he'd been hit by a bus.

He hadn't realized how important she'd become to him. Well he had in a way, he'd known she was important the second he'd seen her, it just hadn't properly clicked yet. But now with the idea in his head that something might happen to her, it was like someone had turned out all the lights in the whole world, in the darkest hour of night. It physically hurt him to think of her in pain. What he felt for her, went beyond affection, it went beyond love…she was _precious_. She was like a treasure that needed to be taken care of and cherished, a treasure he knew he would break. If something happened to her, worse than what already had, he wouldn't get past it. That would stay with him forever. She had made some sort of mark on his soul, she had brought out something in him that he barely recognized, and in doing so she had found a place in his heart. A place that took up pretty much the whole thing.

He knew what he had to do. For her, her safety, his peace of mind, maybe to ease his guilt a little. He would do anything to make sure that something like this never happened to Elena again. Including betray his family.

He couldn't go back to the life he'd had before. And he couldn't risk Elena.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hey guys! Sorry this took so long to update! It was quite an intense chapter to write and I've been a kinda put off TVD lately. So I'm dealing with a little writers block :( <strong>_

_**Anyway as my mom would eloquently say - the shit hath hitteth the fanneth! Lol I hope you enjoyed the chapter, it was time to pick up the drama in this story and get the ball rolling :) **_

_**The next few updates will be full of delena to make up for the severe lack of in this one, I promise! **_

**_Please review so I know you're not too mad at me! x_**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

* * *

><p>Damon sat in the front seat of his car, his hand tapping angrily against the steering wheel and his eyes fixed on the screen of his phone. It had been over half an hour and there'd been no word. He was going out of his mind. Every worst case scenario was running through his mind, driving him insane. What if they never contacted him? What if they just left her and he never found her? What if they had seriously hurt her?<p>

His phone finally beeped loudly in the small space and he jumped, so wound up and agitated that the tiniest thing could set him off.

A new text flashed onto the screen and he opened it, breathing a sigh of relief as he read the address.

The tires screeched as he pulled out of the driveway.

It took him fifteen minutes to drive outrageously fast to the abandoned warehouse outside of town. It was the most surreal fifteen minutes of his life. He felt almost out of his body, like he wasn't even sure what was real and what was some strange distortion of his mind. Most of all he just felt sick with dread.

The building was dark and foreboding. He guessed it had been once used as a factory of some sort, it had probably been shut down when new safety laws were brought in, the place looked like it was about to fall down.

He didn't even bother to lock his car in his hurry to get inside. He steadied his breathing and calmed his nerves enough to think clearly as he approached the rusty door. He was well aware of the possibility that this was a trap or a double cross. He needed to focus. He grasped the cold metal handle and pulled, cringing as the metal hinges screeched. He paused and waited in complete silence trying to pick up any noise around him, he found none and opened the door far enough for him to slip through. He found himself in a large, dark room, he could barely make out blurry shapes and goose bumps instantly rose on his arms from the freezing air.

As his eyes began to gradually adjust to the darkness, they fell on a sight that made his heart clench painfully. Elena was tied to a chair in the middle of the room, her hands bound tightly behind her back and her head slumped forward onto her chest. She was unconscious. He darted forward, his previous concern about keeping quiet completely forgotten.

He knelt down in front of her and brushed aside the curtain of hair that was hiding her face. Tear tracks were etched on her cheeks and there was a smudge of a forming bruise across her jaw. He examined the rope that she was tied with and easily undid the knots, cringing at her swollen fingers.

She fell forwards and he caught her in his arms, sitting down heavily on the floor and pulling her into his lap. He stroked her hair back and brushed his fingers under her eyes. "Wake up Elena. Please." She didn't respond to his soft voice and he felt a coil of fear building in his stomach. She was too quiet, too still.

"Elena! Elena wake up." He lightly slapped her cheeks. "Come on sweetheart, wake up." His fingers danced across her pulse point, relieved to feel the steady beating of her heart.

"Elena!" His voice grew louder and he shook her softly. "Come on."

Her breathing began to quicken and he felt rather than saw her open her eyes.

"No…" She whimpered softly, trying to pull away from him. "Please don't hurt me any more." A lump formed in his throat at how fragile and scared she sounded.

He stroked her hair soothingly.

"It's Damon. You're safe, baby. No one's going to hurt you." He whispered.

Her struggling stopped and she squinted against the darkness, trying to make out his face.

"Damon?"

"Yeah, it's me."

And then she was struggling to move _closer_ to him, her hands reaching to grab at his shirt. Her injured fingers hit his chest and she shrieked in pain, a wracking sob shaking her body. His eyes filled with tears and he pulled her closer to him, cradling her against his body.

"You're ok, I've got you." He picked up her hand and, careful not to hurt her, turned it over examining the injury. Two fingers were broken. He grit his teeth as a wave of rage flooded through him

"It hurts." She cried.

"I know."

He scooped her up in his arms, holding her close, and began to walk out of the gloomy warehouse. She rested her head against his shoulder and looped her good arm around his neck.

"You're always saving me." She whispered into his skin, her damp eyelashes placing butterfly kisses on his collarbone.

"Someone has too." He replied gently, he tried not to think about the fact that no one would _need _to if it weren't for him.

He picked up his pace and hurried to the car, tucking her carefully into the front seat and securing her belt around her. She murmured something incomprehensible and drowsily reached for him as he pulled away. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before he could stop himself.

She began to drift off as they drove, she didn't have a head injury so he prayed it would be alright.

"Where are we going?" She murmured as they passed the turn off which led to the boarding house.

He glanced at her, she was fighting sleep, her head resting against the window and her eyes gazing blearily at the passing scenery.

"Hospital." He said quietly.

She looked at him quickly, waking up enough to give him one of her irritated expressions.

"No… They'll ask questions."

"They should." He didn't mean to be short with her, but really she had no business worrying about things like that when her health was at risk. This was exactly why he hadn't wanted her in his world.

She frowned.

"Damon no. That could lead back to you!"

It was extraordinary how she was always thinking about others, never herself, never what was best for _her._ His jaw ticked and he kept his eyes firmly to the front.

Her face twisted in confusion when he didn't react to that revelation. Did he not hear what she said?

"Damon…"

"Elena. You're going to the hospital. End of discussion."

She opened her mouth to argue but the glare he threw in her direction shut her up. She was too tired to fight anyway.

* * *

><p>The visit was uneventful after all. Elena said that she had trapped her fingers in a door, Damon wasn't convinced that anyone had believed her, but they went along with it. The bruise on her face wasn't mentioned, but Damon got a lot of dirty looks from the nurses. He didn't defend himself. While he hadn't physically caused her injuries, he was directly to blame.<p>

When she was done and her hand was all neatly bandaged, he drove her home in silence. His mind was whirring with what he was going to do next and he didn't want to burden her with those thoughts.

She had a million questions on the tip of her tongue, but bit them back. She could feel Damon's turmoil, and knew he was beating himself up over what had happened. She wished there was something she could say to appease him, but every time she opened her mouth, she chickened out.

It wasn't until they were a block away from home that he finally spoke.

"What are you going to tell your mom?" He asked.

She frowned and picked at the hem of her shirt.

"I was gonna say I was mugged." She murmured.

He glanced at her, his expression softening as he saw her conflicted face.

"Elena…I'm sorry." He whispered.

She nodded, but couldn't help the tear that rolled down her cheek.

He sighed and pulled over, turning to face her.

"I'm going to fix this." He promised, he knew she probably wouldn't see the way that he was going to fix it as the right solution, but he didn't tell her that.

She looked across at him, her eyes seeking out his. He looked almost broken; there was so much self hatred and anger swimming around in his blue orbs that she burst into tears from the sheer emotion emanating from him. And then, before she could second guess herself, she was clambering across the seats and into his lap. She just wanted to be close to him, to somehow make him see that she didn't blame him, she would _never _blame him.

He accepted her happily and wrapped his arms around her as she buried her head in his chest.

"I'm sorry." He said again, his chin resting on her head.

"Please stop saying that. It's not your fault."

"El…"

She cut him off before he could finish.

"I know you think that everything bad that happens to me is because of you. But that goes both ways, if I'd never met you, bad things still would have happened and I'd have no one to save me."

She meant the words more than anything. Damon was the guy she called for when she was hurt, he was the one she trusted more than anything. The very idea that he was the cause of anything _bad _was absurd.

He was silent after her little speech, a hand softly playing with her hair.

This girl, this little slip of a girl had the power to take his breath away and bring him to his knees with only a few words.

He had the sudden urge to open up and just blurt out all his feelings for her. How much he loved her, how the very sight of her made his heart do back flips, how he hadn't had sweaty palms since junior high but with her he did…He wanted to tell her everything, so he quickly changed the subject.

"If someone comes to talk to you in the next couple of days, you say what I tell you to ok?" He said gruffly, he couldn't get side tracked now, he had decided what he was going to do and he needed to focus on that.

She pulled away and looked up at him, confused for a moment before understanding seemed to wash over her and she nodded.

"Yeah of course. I'm not going to expose you Damon. I promise." She whispered, reaching up a hand to rest it against his jaw, her thumb stroking his skin.

He swallowed roughly, she was _so close _to him.

"Even if what I tell you to do _could_ expose me…I need you to trust me." He fought to keep his eyes on hers and not let them drift to… _other _places. He couldn't let himself get distracted by how much he wanted her, he might talk himself out of his plan.

Her eyes widened and a feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach. He could sense her concern and hastened to soothe her.

"You don't need to worry about this now, just keep it in mind for the future." He brushed a hand down the side of her face, but his reassuring smile didn't reach his eyes.

"What aren't you telling me?" She asked, an edge to her voice when he dropped his gaze.

He didn't reply, but a sad smile crossed his lips, gone almost as soon as it came. She sounded like an irritated girlfriend. He imagined a better world, where they were a carefree, happy couple. He would be planning some surprise for her and she would convince herself that he was hiding something serious, only to be swept of her feet when he showed her all over again how much he loved her. The thoughts were pointless and juvenile but they made him ache. He cleared his throat.

"Nothing."

"Damon…"

"It's nothing Elena." His tone was final but still held that softness he reserved only for her.

She sighed and clambered off him, only just becoming aware of her position on his lap. With the silence stretching between them, being pressed against him like that suddenly felt uncomfortable. He started the car once she was settled back in her seat.

See could see that he didn't want to talk any more, but she had to say this.

"Damon..." She murmured, she wanted to ask him more questions but knew that it wasn't the time.

He looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. She would have expected a smirk to be playing at his lips at her needy behavior but his face was serious, almost sad.

"I just… _Thank you_. For everything you did today." She stammered, heat rising to her cheeks.

He looked surprised, he wasn't used to people thanking him, counting on him, _caring _about him.

"There's no need for thanks. You know I'll always look out for you Lena." He replied quietly, his eyes caressing her face with an intensity that had her almost shivering where she sat.

He turned and focused back on the road, turning up the narrow drive to the boarding house.

* * *

><p>Hours later after explaining things to Miranda (She had given him a look that clearly said 'we need to talk' but hadn't mentioned the incident with Giuseppe. His father himself wasn't anywhere to be seen and Damon was thankful for that.) Damon stood outside a tall building in town, his hands shoved deep in his pockets as his mind ran over the consequences of what he was about to do. He looked up at the writing on the wall and took a deep breath.<p>

_Mystic Falls Police Dpt._

He could do this.

He walked inside and up to the front desk, his heart hammering.

He _needed_ to do this.

To bring down his father, to protect Elena. He needed to do the right thing for once in his life. He needed to be selfless.

"My name is Damon Salvatore. I'm here to turn myself in."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sorry I took such a long time to update! I've been having a bit of a dry spell with fanfics :( <strong>_

_**I know it doesn't look like it after this chapter, but there is going to be a LOT of Delena in upcoming chapters! Major progression :)**_

_**Please review?**_

* * *

><p><strong>Twitter: Serenasdreams<strong>

**Tumblr: lostvitality**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

* * *

><p>Damon sat slumped in a plastic chair in a small interrogating room, his fingers were digging into his temples as he tried to fend off the pounding headache approaching. He had been there for nearly four hours, hashing over detail after detail of everything he and his father had done for the last five years. He had talked to six different people, been recorded, questioned, and cajoled, and so far there seemed to be no headway.<p>

There was no proof. No paper trail, no incriminating evidence, just his word against his fathers. They had nothing.

He had told them about Elena, yelled actually, he had explained what had happened today but still they had nothing to go on.

It was just about the most frustrating situation he'd ever been in. He needed to take his father down, he needed Elena to be safe, he needed to stop hurting people, and yet when he finally got up the courage to actually _do _something about it, he got batted back.

The FBI had been trying to get something on his father for years, but they couldn't even find an overdue parking ticked. To the outward world Giuseppe was a law-abiding citizen. He paid his taxes, dotted his i's, crossed his t's. He was almost invincible.

Damon looked up as the heavy door opened and closed, a man walked in, he had talked to him earlier but had left to put in a call to the feds, apparently there had been a whole conference about him, while he was stuck in this room.

The man, Detective Gray, Damon remembered he was called, pulled out the chair opposite and sat down heavily.

"We have a plan." He said. His voice was hard and rough, this was a man you didn't argue with.

Damon perked up, had they found some evidence? Was there a chance this _could _actually work?

"We need you to carry on as before. You will work for your father, do as he says, take as many jobs as you can. Go along on all the big trips, be around whenever he's doing something illegal."

Damon's heart sank steadily in his chest.

"What?" His throat was dry and his head was pounding.

"You'll be wearing a wire."

Damon rolled his eyes, what was this, a crappy mafia movie? He couldn't the risk lives of people he loved by doing something this stupid.

"No. Listen, you don't know my father, he's not stupid. He'll know…"

"We'll be very careful, and if at any point you think you're compromised we'll be there within minutes." Gray sounded steady and reassuring, his eyes were the color of his name and held absolutely no emotion, he was hard and professional and he had made up his mind.

"You don't understand, if he thinks I'm double crossing him he'll hurt Elena…If he found out he'd…He'd kill her." Damon jumped out of his chair and began pacing the small room, unable to just sit there, feeling so completely helpless.

"And if you don't do this, every time you disobey him he will hurt her. Neither of you will ever be free of him. This is your only choice. You have confessed to a lot of crimes today, and while we have no proof against your father, your confessions alone should send you away for a little while at least. What do you think will happen to Elena when your father finds out that you turned yourself in? She'll be out there with him, living in the same house as him, while you're in here unable to protect her. This is your _only _choice."

Damon listened with growing anxiety. Had he made a mistake in coming here? He was trying to do the right thing, but he just kept on making things worse.

He knew Gray was telling the truth. He didn't have a choice.

"Tell me what I need to do."

* * *

><p>Damon stayed out as long as possible after that, wanting to wait until everyone had gone to bed before he went home. He wasn't sure how he was going to go about this with Elena yet. He knew that for her safety, and his rationality he had to follow his orders and push her away. But he also knew that it would hurt her, something he was loath to do. She would be confused, upset, she would think that she had done something wrong. He slammed his hands against the steering wheel of his car in frustration.<p>

Gray had explained that he couldn't tell anybody, not even Elena, what was going on. It would only put her in more danger. He had told him that the fastest way to get this done, would be for him to focus on the jobs and Giuseppe, and not let his feelings for Elena tangle everything up. He needed to distance himself from her, to be more professional and focused. Gray had talked to him like he was scolding a school boy. "You _have _to lie to her. To keep her safe." He had said condescendingly, and as much as he hated to admit it, Damon knew he was right.

He could hurt her feelings, he could push her away, if it kept her safe. He would keep her alive at all and any costs. She wouldn't be another victim of this 'family business' she wouldn't end up like his mother.

With a renewed determination, he drive towards the boarding house.

He was relieved to see all the lights off when he pulled into the driveway.

He opened the front door quietly, and hung up his jacket, running a hand through his already messy hair before heading for the sitting room for a much-needed drink.

The sight of Elena sitting quietly on the sofa in the dark, made his heart lurch, he flicked on the lights and cursed under his breath. This was the last thing he needed right now.

"What are you doing up Elena? It's late." He said coldly, standing in the doorway watching her.

Her eyes sought out his and he saw nothing but concern and kindness in her beautiful orbs. She stood up and walked over to him, stopping a few feet away.

"I was worried about you. You just disappeared and you were being all cryptic, I was scared you'd gone to find those men…" She shuddered slightly at the thought and moved closer to him on instinct. "Are you ok?" She reached up to rest her hand against his arm, her thumb unconsciously brushing against his bicep in a comfort.

He closed his eyes briefly. He liked the feeling of coming home to find someone waiting for him. Someone warm and kind, who worried about him and was happy to see him walk through the door. He liked the way her soft brown eyes gazed at him without a trace of judgement. He liked the way she tried to comfort him with her touch… He dreaded the moment he had to push it all away. He took a deep breath and brushed her hand off him.

"I'm fine _Elena._" He said with a sneer reminiscent of the first few times he had ever spoken her.

He turned to the wet bar and poured himself a large glass of scotch, gulping it back quickly; he was going to need it. He looked back to see her still there.

"Just go to bed. I don't need a baby sitter." He laughed dryly.

She stood frozen in the same spot, her eyes fixed on him, _burning him._

"Damon what happened?" Her voice was that perfect mixture of hard and soft that she harbored just for him.

"Nothing _happened." _He scoffed. "I'm just not in the mood to entertain a schoolgirl…Maybe I'll call up that pretty waitress, what was her name again?" The words sounded so forced and empty even to his own ears. "Vicky something?"

He tried to avoid looking at Elena's hurt face. The betrayed look he knew he'd find there would be enough to break him.

"Damon please tell me what happened."

Damn, why did she have to know him so fucking well, was it that obvious how insincere he was?

"Just go to bed Elena. I've had enough drama for one day."

"Whatever it is, don't let it win." Her voice shook slightly but he heard her loud and clear.

He turned his back to her, so as to avoid her eyes. After a minute or two he heard her soft footsteps retreating up the stairs, the sound of her bedroom door slamming, and then silence. He let out a shuddering breath and collapsed onto the couch. He pressed his fingers into his temples, so hard that his nails began to cut into his skin. This was so messed up.

He stayed like that for almost an hour, just staring into the flickering heat of the hearth and drinking his favorite scotch. Finally his eyes began to get heavy and he reckoned he was tired enough to collapse into sleep without his mind torturing him for hours beforehand. It was worth a try anyway.

* * *

><p>He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep, before a shift of weight on his mattress woke him. He cracked his eyes open and stared foggily at the figure that was carefully crawling into bed beside him. Her eyes were wide and wet with tears, her hair loose around her shoulders. She was dressed in one of her skimpy little pajama sets, displaying an ample amount of delectable olive skin. Unaware that he had woken, she lay down and pulled the cover over her, carefully shifting closer to him, until her body was mere inches from his. She began to trace feather-light, patterns on his chest and he closed his eyes, enjoying the comforting sensation. He wondered if he was dreaming, or maybe hallucinating. Maybe he was more drunk than he thought.<p>

"I wish you wouldn't keep shutting me out." He voice was so quiet that even in their close proximity he had to strain to hear her.

He realized that she thought he was still asleep, and contemplated whether he should let her know that he wasn't… the slightly less chivalrous part of him won over. Maybe if he just lay here, pretending to be oblivious to her, she would stay for longer. And he wanted to hear what she had to say.

"I want to help you, you're always saving me, I want to save you too. But I can't if you keep pushing me away." Her voice hitched and she was silent for a moment, a couple of tears dripping down her cheeks and onto the duvet.

"Just let me help you." The request was so soft and heartbroken and he hated himself for putting that pain in her voice.

"You don't have to trust me. You don't even have to care about me. But I will never stop trusting or caring about you." She took a deep breath and the soft brush of her fingers against his skin stopped. "I'll never stop loving you."

Damon swore his heart stopped. He couldn't have heard her right, could he? It wasn't possible. It had to be a dream, a beautiful, perfect dream.

He must have caught his breath in his shock because she froze and her eyes flew to his.

"Damon?"

Well if it was a dream, which it had to be, he might as well enjoy it.

"Shh." He whispered, reaching out a hand to wipe away the lingering tears beneath her eyes. He tucked his arm over her and pulled her closer, until her body was pressed against his and his face was buried in her silky hair.

"Let's just sleep ok? Please, let me hold you like this for tonight." He murmured; he wanted to take this night and pretend, pretend that he could have this forever. That it could be real.

She wrapped an arm around his torso and pulled herself closer still. She nodded and buried her head in his chest, breathing in his warm smell, and letting her eyes drift shut.

She fit so well in his arms, like she was made to be there. He felt at _home _for the first time since he was a small child.

"I love you too, you know." He whispered into her hair.

* * *

><p><em><strong>I'm not sure about this chapter... Its more a sort of setting up filler I guess. <strong>_

_**What do you think about Damon's plan? Did any of you guess that he was going to become an informant? And Delena's finally happening :) Sure he thinks it's a dream but... he'll figure it out when they wake up ;) **_

_**Review and let me know your thoughts! This story's at kind of a turning point, so I'm figuring out which way to take it, I'd love some input from you guys! **_

_**Thanks xx**_

* * *

><p><strong>Twitter: serenasdreams<strong>

**Tumblr: lostvitality**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

* * *

><p><em>The smell of alcohol and sweat filled her nose as she made her way through the thronging crowd. She wasn't sure why she was there, she didn't want to be there. People kept on bumping into her, pressuring her to do something…she just couldn't remember what. She was scared. The lights were blurry and shed no clarity on her situation. She began to panic, fear rising in her chest because there was something she had forgotten, something she needed to know… It would tell her why she was here.<em>

_She spun around, searching the room, ignoring the jeers from the drunken men around her. Someone grabbed her arm and she shook them off, quickly hurrying away. But however fast she walked, all she found were more people, more lights, more drinks, more jeers. She felt hot and lightheaded. Where was she?_

_A pair of bright blue eyes found hers in the middle of the crowded room and she smiled. It was ok. Everything would be ok. She pushed through the people, her eyes never leaving his. Why couldn't she reach him? He wasn't that far away… But every time she got closer, he just got more out of reach. _

"_Damon!" She cried in frustration. "Damon help me!" _

_He didn't move, just held her in a steady gaze, never breaking eye contact, never blinking, never smiling, never talking. _

_And then everything was spinning, everything was moving away from her and she screamed in terror as the floor disappeared from beneath her feet and the sky was ripped from over her head. _

"_Damon!' _

_Her eyes closed for the briefest second and when they opened he was gone. Everything was gone. The world was dark and cold and so, so quiet. She stood frozen, her ears straining for the slightest sound; they were met by nothing. And then she began to run. She ran faster than she had ever run before, blind and deaf, she ran into nothing but blackness, because anything would be better than this. _

_She tripped over some invisible obstacle and fell to her knees, a sharp cry springing from her lips. She opened her eyes and found that suddenly she could see, the light was dim and gray but she could see. She looked up and found herself once again gazing into those perfect eyes. The eyes that would save her. _

"_Damon." She breathed. _

_He began to laugh. A low chuckle, cruel and cold. _

"_Do I know you?" He snorted, his face blank and devoid of emotion. _

_She didn't understand. Why didn't anything make sense? Why wasn't he helping her?_

"_What? It's me…Elena." _

_She scrambled to her feet and stepped towards him. _

"_Damon what's wrong with you?" She asked desperately, her hands reaching up to his face, gently tracing his cheekbones, caressing the evening stubble that decorated his jaw. _

_He pushed her away, roughly, carelessly. _

"_Go away Alana." He sneered. "I don't know you." _

"_It's _Elena_." She whispered, a lump forming in her throat as she watched him. Why was he looking at her like that? He hadn't ever looked at her like that before._

_He shrugged and turned to walk away from her, his figure getting smaller and smaller in the ever encroaching blackness. _

"_Wait! Come back! Damon please." She sobbed. _

_She tried to run after him but he was out of sight, and the light was disappearing around her. _

"_Damon please don't do this! Don't walk away from me." She yelled to her empty surroundings. "Please!"_

* * *

><p>A soft mumbling sound woke Damon. He felt warm and comfortable and opened his eyes to be met by nothing but chocolate brown hair. The delicious vanilla smell of shampoo was tickling his nose. It took him a few moments to fully wake up and realize who the hair and smell were attached to. Elena was curled into his chest, her fingers gripping his shirt and her face resting against his neck. His arms were wrapped around her, holding her possessively close and their legs were entwined beneath the duvet.<p>

_What?_

Damon blinked a couple of times. Was he still asleep? The distinct ache in his arm debunked that theory. What the fuck had happened last night? He was meant to push her away, not get into bed with her. He couldn't deny how amazing it felt to have her there with him, curled around him, invading his senses with her perfect _Elena-ness. _ But as much as he wanted to just turn his thoughts off and fall back to sleep, warm in their little cocoon, he needed to know what had happened. He needed to be sensible and think clearly.

He closed his eyes and forced his mind back to the night before. He had been drinking…He had yelled at her, told her to go away. Then he drank some more. A lot more. A horrifying thought hit him and his eyes flew back open. Oh god, what if they'd… There was no way he could have _slept _with her and not remembered it right? It was Elena. He'd had that fantasy a million times, there was no way he would do it drunk and fumbling and wake up with the memories of nothing but a hangover… Right?

Her fingers tightened on his shirt and she nuzzled closer to him with a soft, kitten-like mewl. God she was adorable… _His shirt. _He carefully looked down and was relieved to see the black material bunched in her hands. He would not be wearing clothes if he'd had sex with her.

His mind traveled back further, him collapsing into bed and falling asleep before he had time to think. And then her soft voice as she slipped into bed beside him. _"Let me help you." _She had gotten into bed with him, she had stroked his chest and whispered sweet, _sweet _things.

"_I'll never stop loving you." _

He'd been so sure that it was a dream, his slightly hazy mind hadn't even explored the possibility that she was really there, that she had really said _that. _ No one except his mother had ever said that to him. But Elena did, perfect, beautiful Elena, _loved him. _How was that possible? How could something so flawless love something so completely flawed?

He wanted to do a happy dance or jump for joy or something equally stupid and immature. But he also wanted to cry. Because really, it didn't change anything. It changed everything for _him. _ To him the whole world had shifted, brightened, been filled with hope and warmth… But to everyone else, the world just kept on ticking by. And in his case, so did the clock. He still had to get proof against his father, he still had to go along with the jobs, he still had to push Elena away. And at the end of it all, he'd be behind bars.

He couldn't start something with her now. Or ever. He wouldn't put her through that. The pain of watching a lover be convicted for numerous crimes and then sent to jail for the majority of his life, was not something he would subject her to. He couldn't bare the thought of her visiting him in prison, hurting because of him. No, that could never happen. If he created the distance now, she would move on more quickly. She _wouldn't _love him forever. It was one of those things you said, in the moment, when you had a burst of emotion. She would move on, fall in love with some sweet boy her own age, go off to college, live a normal life. That's what she deserved.

He vaguely remembered whispering it back… _I love you too, you know. _He hoped she was already asleep for that part. It would be harder for both of them if she weren't. She would forget about him faster if she thought it was unrequited.

She was mumbling again. And he remembered that that was what had woken him in the first place. Her arm slid around his back and she pressed herself flush against him, holding onto him like a lifeline. He resisted the urge to groan out loud as her breasts flattened against his chest and her leg rose higher between his.

He felt a drop of something wet fall onto his neck and trickle down to his collarbone. He frowned. Was she crying? She mumbled something else, sounding more distressed, her nails dug into his back and her chest began to heave. She was having a nightmare.

All his previous determinations went out the window as he felt her shudder against him. He automatically began to stroke her back, whispering soothing words into her hair.

"Damon please don't… Don't walk away from me. Please!" It was barely intelligible, a mixture of a whimper and plea. But he heard her. He heard her as though she had yelled it at the top of her lungs. _Don't walk away from me. _She was having a nightmare about him walking away, just as he was planning to do that exact thing.

Her eyes flew open with a gasp and she instinctively burrowed into his chest to escape the lingering images of her dream.

It took her a minute to realize what she was doing and who's arms she was in. It was his whispered "You ok?" That snapped her back to reality. She pulled away enough to look up at him, and found herself getting lost in the blue eyes that had haunted her dream.

"Hi." She murmured.

He gave her a strained smile.

"Hi."

He noticed that he was still stroking her back and quickly halted the movement, pulling his hand away and awkwardly resting it on his chest so as to avoid touching her.

"Bad dream?" He asked.

Her eyes tracked the movement of his hand, not missing the way he was edging away from her.

"Something like that."

She pulled away and sat up, already missing the warm feel of his arms around her.

She looked at him, waiting for him to say something, anything, let her know what she should next. He had heard her declaration of love last night, the ball was in his court.

He remained silent.

She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force down the dull ache in her chest.

She forced a smile on her face and said lightly "I guess I'll just be going then."

She stood up and began walking to the door, tears stinging her eyes. She had hoped… naively hoped that maybe the feelings were mutual, maybe he could love her too. Maybe they could be _something. _Something wonderful. Clearly she was wrong. He probably thought she was nothing but a silly child. A stepsister he was forced to look out for and put up with, nothing more than a nuisance.

"Elena wait." He called after her, she stopped and looked back at him. "I…I'm _sorry _for how I treated you last night."

Her mind flashed back to the hard look in his eyes as he had told her to leave, she'd known that there was a reason, but it had still hurt.

"I don't want to hurt you Lena." He said softly. He hated seeing that look on her face, he was completely unable to let her walk out without saying something.

He looked so sincere and almost stricken that she had a sudden rush of hope. There was something there, more than something. She couldn't let him give up on it. Not yet.

Before she could stop herself she was hurrying back to the bed until she was kneeling a mere foot away from him on the mattress.

He was so close to opening up to her completely, she could see it. The scale could tip either way, she could lose him forever, or she could convince him… Convince him that he was everything she needed. She took a deep breath, and thought about what she needed to say.

"I know there's something you can't tell me. And I'm ok with that. You don't have to tell me. And I know that you're fiercely protective, and probably have some idiotic notion that I'd be safer without you… But I'm begging you not to do whatever it is that you're planning. _Please_ Damon. Don't cut me out." Her hands had drifted to his face and her eyes locked with his.

Her expression was a strange mixture of determination and desperation and Damon thought he'd never seen her look more beautiful, more passionate. He thought about yanking himself away from her warm hands, her fiery gaze... He thought about tearing out of the room and down to his car and driving far, far away, he thought about telling her that she had no business in his life and should leave. He thought about all the things he could do, _should _do. But the one thing he did was the one thing he absolutely should_ not _have done.

Before he could stop himself, he leant into her, pressing his lips against hers. She responded instantly, her warm, perfect lips molding to his. It started off relatively innocently, but he wanted more. He _needed _more. He needed to be close to her. His arm wrapped around her waist, anchoring her to him and his tongue delved into her mouth. She moaned softly and their tongues battled for dominance, both losing themselves in a kiss that could only be described as perfect.

Her hands slipped under his shirt, her warm fingers tracing the contours of his muscles. Memorizing every little indent and swell. His thumb brushed in gentle circles against her waist, while his other hand cupped her face. She broke away to breathe and he moved to scatter hot open-mouthed kisses on her neck, trailing down her collarbone, enjoying the wake of goose bumps he left on her skin. His hand traveled up until he was softly brushing his fingers against the underside of her breast. She moaned low and arched towards him, her head falling back, exposing more of her neck to his kisses. He found her pulse point and lathed it with his tongue, sucking and teasing it with his teeth. He wanted to mark her as his. She was _his_ and no one else could ever do this to her. Just him, always just him. Rational, selfless thoughts had abandoned him.

"God Elena." He groaned when he finally pulled away from her. "You have no idea what you do to me."

She answered by tangling her fingers in his hair and pulling his face back down to hers. This kiss was deeper, and so full of emotion it was overwhelming. She was kissing him like she wanted to crawl inside his heart and stay there forever.

He feared she may have done that already.

She fell back on the bed, and without breaking the kiss he followed, hovering over her. Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer and she moaned into his mouth at the feeling of his body against hers. When they were both in desperate need of air, they broke apart, but didn't move away from each other.

He gazed down at her, taking in her beauty. Her eyes were twin pools of melted chocolate filled with love and trust, her lips were swollen from his kisses and her cheeks were flushed a pretty pink. She was everything he wanted.

He couldn't walk away from her. It was physically impossible. She was so deep in his heart that he wondered if he would _ever_ be able to walk away. He doubted it.

"What does this mean?" She asked softly, her face full of hope as she looked up at him.

He swallowed uncomfortably. What did it mean?

It meant that all his thoughts from before she had woken were moot. It meant that he clearly couldn't stay away from her. It meant that the idea of hurting her, hurt him even more.

He stroked her cheek and pressed a light, chaste kiss on her lips.

"It means we'll figure it out." He whispered. "Together."

A breathtaking smile spread across her face and he found himself grinning back at her. He meant it. Plan A had failed, and plan B would involve her. He would face the consequences, they both would. It would not be smooth sailing by any means, but for the time being, they would take what they could get. He knew this would end badly, he knew they would both get hurt, he knew he was being irresponsible. But in that moment, he couldn't find it in himself to care.

A sharp rap on the door and a quiet "Damon?" Snapped them out of their little bubble. Elena's eyes widened as they flew to the door, Damon rolled off her and she scrambled up, just as the door opened and Miranda walked in.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Ok so this chapter was DEFINITELY not my best work! And I think Damon seems a little bipolar at this point... Let's blame it on his inner turmoil and confusion as opposed to my crappy writing! Lol<strong>_

_**Anyway although, as Damon said, it's not going to be smooth sailing.. Delena are definitely going to change their dynamic from now on. Also Elena's going to finally stand up for herself and kick some major ass soon! ;) **_

_**Review if you feel like it...**_

* * *

><p><strong>Twitter: serenasdreams<strong>

**tumblr: lostvitality **


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Elena flushed bright red and ducked her head to avoid her mother's eyes. Damon groaned internally. This did _not _look good.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Miranda breathed, her face stony.

Damon got out of the bed, partly to show that he was still fully dressed, but also because he figured this conversation would go a lot smoother if he wasn't in bed with her underage daughter as he defended himself.

"This is not what it looks like." He said lamely, scratching his head.

"It looks like you're _sleeping_ with your seventeen year old stepsister." She spat back.

Damon cringed at hearing Elena called that.

"Mom, nothing happened I swear! I just…" Elena started. Miranda cut her off with a glare.

"Get up."

She scrambled out of the bed and stood next to Damon, both of them looking equally sheepish.

"You have got some serious explaining to do young lady."

Despite the situation, Elena felt a sudden rush of warmth at how mom-like Miranda was acting. It had been a while since she had done anything to show Elena that she still took that role seriously.

"Mom please listen. I had a nightmare and I came in here because I was scared." She said quickly, before she could be interrupted.

Damon had to be impressed with her ingenuity.

"Nothing happened?" Miranda looked slightly calmer, and her face had relaxed.

"Nothing happened. We just slept I swear." It was true, kind of. They _had _just slept… Until they woke up.

Miranda looked at Elena appraisingly, her eyes narrowing. She took a deep breath.

"Go back to your room Elena. I have something I need to talk to Damon about." She said.

Elena didn't move.

"Go Elena."

"He didn't do anything mom. _I _got into bed with _him_ and we just slept!" She insisted, hating the thought of Damon getting in any trouble because of her.

"I need to talk to him about why I originally came in here. It doesn't involve anything I just saw." She sighed.

Elena glanced at Damon and he nodded at her reassuringly. He knew what Miranda wanted to talk about.

"Fine." Elena huffed, and stalked out of the room, throwing Damon a quick smile as she went out the door.

Damon turned back to Miranda when the door closed behind her.

"Look, about that…" He started, gesturing to his bed.

Miranda closed her eyes briefly.

"I'm not stupid Damon. And I don't like being lied to. She has a love bite on her neck, are you going to tell me that's not from you?"

Damon cringed. He didn't what had come over him in that moment, he'd just felt an overwhelming sense of possessiveness and had gotten a little carried away.

"I know you care about her. That much was clear yesterday, but she's just a kid. You're what… six years older than her? You can understand my concern."

Damon sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This was _so _not a conversation he wanted to be having.

"I know I haven't exactly been mom of the year lately…"

"Look Miranda," Damon cut her off. "I would never hurt Elena. And I'm not going to lie to you and say that everything is _completely _catatonic… But I haven't slept with her. Well technically I have but all we did is sleep. I promise." He looked her straight in the eye and he could see that she believed him.

She sighed and nodded.

"There isn't really anything I could do about it anyway. She'll be eighteen in a couple of months. And it's not like you're actually related."

Damon's eyes widened as he realized that her birthday was indeed only two months away. Eighteen… In a perfect world he would spoil her rotten, buy her everything she could ever want… And finally announce to the whole world that he was _hopelessly _in love with her. But they didn't live in a perfect world, and for all he knew, in two months he would be behind bars.

"Elena issues aside. You still have some explaining to do." Miranda's voice cut through his thoughts.

Damon sighed and nodded. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain away his actions last night. He needed to think of something though, there was no way he could tell her the truth.

"Where is Giuseppe?" He asked, buying time.

"In his study. I tried to talk to him but…" She broke off and looked down. Damon frowned.

"Did he hurt you?" His voice grew hard and he ran his eyes over her, checking for injuries.

"No!" She flushed. " He just told me to go away. It was no big deal." She rushed to explain.

Damon looked slightly appeased and nodded, he wouldn't stand for his father abusing this woman right under his nose.

"Look Miranda. I wasn't being rational last night…The while situation reminded me of something that happened once before, my father was to blame that time. I guess I just jumped to blame him without thinking it through." He said smoothly, feeling slightly sick.

He hated his father. He actually hated him.

Miranda frowned.

"Giuseppe is a good man. He would never hurt Elena." She said stiffly.

He nodded and rubbed his jaw. "I know. Of course I know that…I just panicked. And I'm sorry you had to witness that."

Miranda shrugged and turned to leave.

"I think you're lying to me Damon." She said over her shoulder as she walked out the door.

He groaned and slumped back on his bed when it clicked behind her. He was exhausted, emotionally and physically drained. Miranda digging around for answers was just going to cause problems…more problems than they already had.

He didn't regret his decision to be with Elena, he didn't think it was possible to regret it when he could still taste her on his lips. But he was aware of the danger he was putting both of them in. It was always going to be there, a nagging thought at the back of his head, that this whole thing could start crumbling around him at any given moment.

"Damon?" There was a light rap on the door and Elena peeked her head around.

He smiled warmly at her and beckoned her in.

"What did my mom want?" She asked, sitting down next to him. He pulled her into his arms, she giggled and nuzzled into his chest.

"She just wanted to thank me for saving you from your muggers." He said with a smirk.

"I still can't believe she bought that story." Elena snorted. "It was completely ridiculous."

Damon chuckled and lay back down on the bed, pulling her with him. She curled against him and he ran his hands through her hair.

"There are some things we need to talk about…" Damon began, wishing he didn't have to have this conversation with her. This seemed to be the day of awful conversations.

"Wait." She cut him off quickly, peeking up at him through her dark lashes. "Just wait…Can we set a rule, where we can only talk about serious things when we're not all comfortable and happy?" She asked, her mouth twisting into a cheeky smile. He kissed her lips lightly, loving that he could just do that whenever he wanted.

"Ok. But we will have to talk about the hard things at some point." He conceded.

She nodded.

"I know, I just want to put it off and stay in my happy bubble for a little longer."

He pulled her closer and closed his eyes. He wanted to stay in a happy bubble with her forever. If only it were that simple.

* * *

><p>Elena eventually had to force herself to get dressed and go to school, but there had been a lot of grumbling and a little more kissing before she finally made it out the door. She knew there were things they needed to talk about, she knew that things would most likely only get harder from here, but she couldn't help but feel deliriously happy. She had never felt this way about anyone before. Whenever she saw him her heart skipped a beat, when he smiled she couldn't help but smile with him and when he was upset it felt like she was breaking in two. She was in love with him. She had never been in love with anyone before, but she couldn't think of any other explanation for the way she felt. It was as though all of a sudden he had become the most important thing in her life, and everything else had just taken a back burner. It was beautiful, liberating, and terrifying.<p>

She floated through school in a daydream, smiling at everyone and everything; nothing had the ability to ruin her good mood.

* * *

><p>"Damon did you hear what I said?"<p>

Damon snapped his head up to look at his father, his brows drawing together in confusion as he realized that, no, he had not heard what he'd said.

He had been, for lack of a better word, daydreaming. He, Damon Salvatore, was daydreaming. He internally scoffed at himself for turning into such a pansy, but really he couldn't help it. Elena just filled his mind, every second, every hour, all he could think about was her. He'd never been like this over a girl. The last serious girlfriend he'd had was Katherine, and he hadn't loved her, he might have thought that he did at some point, but it hadn't been love. It was an eighteen year old's lust-fueled infatuation, nothing more. And since her betrayal, he had never been with the same girl for more than one night. He had never found a reason to risk being hurt like that again. But then Elena came along and tore at his every defense. She knocked him on his ass, and changed everything.

"Damon!" His father snapped his fingers in front of his face.

Fuck, he cringed, he was all over the place today.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Yes, I'm listening." Damon snapped.

"You can't screw this up Damon. This is a big one, our biggest yet. You got that?"

And then reality came crashing back down and his silly lovesick thoughts were quickly shoved to the back of his mind.

"I won't screw up." He said firmly.

"Good. It goes down tonight."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sorry it was kind of short! The next one will be longer and very action packed to make up for this dull chapter! lol<strong>_

_**I'm starting a new story... It should be posted at some point this week. It's an AU Delena fic, Damon's a vamp and it starts of with Dark!Damon, gradually progressing to the Damon we know and love... With a little help from Elena of course ;) It's more mythical than what i've been doing lately, it explores the idea of twin flames and all that stuff. So anyway, keep your eye out for that if it sounds interesting! :) **_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Twitter: serenasdreams<strong>_


	21. AN

Hello lovely readers,

I don't know how long for, or to what end. But I am taking a hiatus from all social network platforms for the foreseeable future. Including fanfiction. I need to take a step back and sort out what's real and what's not. I've become invested in certain characters and ships to the point where I feel like there's an empty space inside me without them. That isn't healthy and I need to find something real that can fill that space. As for TVD... Yes it was the catalyst and tonights' episode was probably the deciding factor, but this has been a long time coming. I need to re-evaluate my life and start living for me as opposed to fictional characters and celebrities that I'll never meet.

I may still write very now and then, but don't hold out for an update anytime soon. I'm really sorry to leave you guys hanging like this, but I just can't do it right now. It's time for me to move on.

I love all of you guys, everyone who has read my fanfics, and followed me on tumblr or twitter, I love you so much.

- Serena


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 21**

* * *

><p>Damon's fingers flew across the keypad of his phone, his eyes shifting to the door as though expecting someone to walk in any minute. He quickly sent the text to his handler at the station and stared at the screen anxiously, waiting for a reply. The job was big, Damon had to go to prove his loyalty, but if the cops wanted him to wear a wire they would have to sort it out very soon. It was a blood diamond deal, some pathetic asshole who had run himself into the ground by gambling away his funds and needed a the money to pull off the big smuggling operation he'd been working on. The payoff for the company was enormous.<p>

He thought of Elena, what she would think if she knew about his plans. What she would say if she knew what he was doing. He could imagine her disappointment, her disgust. He swallowed raggedly and dragged a hand through his hair.

His phone beeped and he opened the new text, pushing all thoughts of Elena out of his mind. There was no going back now.

* * *

><p>Damon watched as the water in the sink turned pink before disappearing down the drain. He absently rubbed at his fingers, gradually washing off the dried blood caked to his skin. His eyes were lifeless and dark, and his hands were steady, methodic.<p>

But behind his outward serenity, a war was raging within. His loyalty had been proven. At a cost. His father was happy, and he was back in the company's good graces... But he felt cold, empty. Desolate.

The house was dark around him, Giuseppe had headed out of town as soon as the deal had been made, Miranda was staying with her sister, and Elena was asleep in her bed. But instead of finding the silence soft and calming, it felt ominous.

It was a little like selling your soul, what he was doing. The police were the demon at the crossroads, promising him something better, a reward at the other side if he could complete their tasks.

But the reward would always come with a price, like some fine print on a binding contract. He wasn't sure what the price was yet, or even what the reward was. Elena's safety? That had been his motivation when he had first walked into that police station, full of hope. Now he was wishing he had just grabbed her and run. They could have been out of the country by now, far away from all of this, from the danger, the pain. He could spend his days showing her the world, instead of following orders and swallowing his feelings.

As it was, even her safety wasn't guaranteed. Likely as not, once they finally got enough evidence on his father to put him away, he wouldn't be the only one being shoved behind bars. And although her physical safety meant a hell of a lot more to him than her feelings, he was beginning (thanks to her) to understand the importance of protecting someone's heart as well as their body. He didn't want to be the one to break her. He didn't want to be the cause of more tear stains on her pretty face.

He caught sight of his hollow reflection in the bathroom mirror and tried to pull himself together. He still needed to go in and be debriefed by Gray. There was nothing more he could do now, no way he could change plans and run off into the sunset with the girl of his dreams. He needed to suck it up. He had made his own bed, now he had to lie in it and face the consequences.

* * *

><p>"Tell us what happened from the beginning."<p>

"I already did." Damon groaned. He was sitting in a stuffy office in the police station, explaining the whole night to Det. Gray for what seemed like the fifth time.

"You're sure they didn't suspect you?" Gray asked.

"Positive. In their eyes I've just 'proven my worth'." Damon said with a shrug.

Gray nodded. "Well Giuseppe didn't incriminate himself in any way on that recording, and if we bust in now and arrest the others, we'll blow our chance at him. You're going to need to keep this up for a bit longer."

Damon grit his teeth and closed his eyes against the pounding headache that was only getting worse. He didn't protest though, he knew by now that he didn't really have a choice in the situation. He was being used as a puppet and there was nothing he could do about it.

Tonight his father had used him as nothing better than a bodyguard, the muscle meant to keep the client in place if they got out of line. Needless to say, he did his job well.

"You should have that looked at." Gray pointed to the large gash on his head with a grimace.

"It's fine. I'll sleep it off." Damon stood up stiffly. He grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and pulled it on stiffly.

Gray shrugged. "Suit yourself. Contact us when you have news."

Damon nodded briefly before turning and showing himself out.

* * *

><p>His return to the boarding house was quiet and eventless, he acted on autopilot, refusing to let any thoughts filter through his mind. He couldn't deal with thinking, he couldn't deal with the regret that he knew would flood him the second let himself feel it.<p>

It wasn't until he was standing outside her room that he even realized what he was doing. His feet had simply taken him there, until he stood on the pale beige carpet by her door, his fingers clenched around the handle.

He didn't have the energy or willpower to quell the urge to push it open and join her in her little floral patterned bed. He _needed _her. She would know how to fix this. She could fix _him_. Give him back the hope and _belief _that he so desperately needed if he had any chance of changing anything.

He pushed the door and in the dim light could just make out her small form beneath the covers. He clicked it closed behind him and fumbled through the darkness until his knees hit the edge of her bed. He almost collapsed onto the soft mattress, his hands quickly searching for her. His fingers curled around her small shoulder and he clumsily shook her awake.

She opened her eyes slowly and murmured a soft "Damon?" as she took in his form standing uncomfortably by her bed.

"I'm sorry." His voice was rough and there was something about his tone that made Elena sit up in fright. Something was wrong, deeply wrong. Her eyes searched out his and what she found in the beautiful blue depths was enough to make her heart clench in fear.

And then she was pulling him to her, wrapping her arms around him holding him to her as though he were a child. He sank down onto the bed beside her and felt the fight go out of his body, a feeling of calm acceptance spreading through his veins. He buried his face in her chest, losing himself in her warmth.

He didn't say a word, make a sound or give any indication about what was wrong, and she didn't care; it didn't matter. She just knew that he needed her; he needed her to hold him, heal him. And so she did.

They sat like that until the sky began to lighten, the first grey streaks of day filtering through her haphazardly drawn curtains. They had barely moved in hours, she occasionally stroked a hand through his hair, or pressed her lips gently against the head she held, cradled against her heart.

And then, as the birds began to chatter and the house began to stir, she felt two hot tears fall silently to her breast. No more, no less. And as much as she bled for him, as much as his pain made her ache, she treasured those tears, for they showed his infinite trust in her… and that was something she cherished above all else.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Soo... I finally updated! <strong>_

_**I know it was short and kind of angsty and I'm sorry about that! But I already have most of next chapter written so I'll get that uploaded asap. I'm going to get this story wrapped up before christmas. I promise! :)**_

_**Anyway, I'm sure I've lost lots of readers during my rather extended hiatus, but to the few of you who are still around... I'm sorry for the wait and I hope you like it! - x **_


	23. Chapter 23

It was like some unspoken agreement between them that neither would ever mention that night again. And so as they drifted to sleep in the soft light of the morning, no words were spoken.

Elena woke up first, her tired eyes squinting against the intruding sun. A heavy arm was draped around her and her back was pressed against a hard chest. She glanced over her shoulder, smiling at the sight of Damon asleep beside her. She shifted slightly so that she was facing him and softly touched her fingertips to his unshaven jaw. He was so gorgeous it almost hurt her to look at him this close up. His coal black lashes rested against his perfectly carved cheekbones, and his mouth was relaxed, soft, creating an innocent air that she knew would be gone the moment he awoke. She trailed her fingers across his cheek, feeling a rush of love for the man next to her. After last night she felt closer to him than she ever had and it was a strangely bittersweet feeling. She hated that it had to be his pain that brought them closer, but she loved that she could comfort him, even if only a little at a time.

She pressed a soft, feather light kiss to his nose and moved to get up, her growling stomach beckoning her towards the kitchen. She tried to shift herself from under his arm but struggled to move it, her wriggling around woke him and his husky morning voice interrupted her.

"You know, I _was_ sleeping." He mumbled softly.

His arm tightened around her waist and he pulled her back down next to him, cuddling her in closer to his body.

She giggled softly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Mmhmm." He hummed skeptically.

His arm was now completely preventing her from getting up and so she shrugged and burrowed back into his chest. Resting her face in the crook of his neck and grinning as his stubble tickled her cheek.

He sighed contentedly as she began to place soft kisses along his collarbone.

"Not that I mind being woken up if it's like this." He added, cracking an eye open to look at her.

She trailed her lips up to the tender skin on his neck and smirked as she heard his sharp intake of breath.

"Someone's very affectionate this morning…" He groaned in surprise as she nipped at his pulse point.

Truth be told, she was as surprised by her actions as he was. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her, but she knew she wanted to show him, without words, how much the night before had meant to her, and silently promise him that she'd always be there. And somehow each kiss she pressed to his warm skin, seemed to whisper those exact words.

Her lips moved slowly up until she softly pressed the to the corner of his mouth. He smiled slightly and tangled a hand in her hair as he pulled her into a deeper kiss. She melted into it, her body becoming pliant against his as he trailed a finger up and down her spine. When they finally pulled away to breathe, both had lazy smiles on their faces.

"Good morning." Elena giggled softly, her breath tickling his cheek.

He smirked and ran a hand through her hair, twirling the ends around his fingers.

"Good morning to you too, beautiful."

Her heart fluttered at the casual compliment and she forced herself not to jump up and start doing a ridiculous happy dance. Mentally subduing her inner thirteen year old, she felt an idea quickly forming in her head.

"Do you have any plans for today?" She asked cautiously.

He glanced down at her, his eyes searching hers.

"Nope. Why?"

"I was thinking that maybe… we could have an angst-free day. You know, just have fun and be normal, and try not think about all the bad stuff." She wanted to just have some time with him where they could relax and she could pretend to herself that everything was going to work out and they'd live happily ever after.

It was naive and stupid, but she was so tired of all the pain and drama in her life. In his life. She was tired of seeing darkness in his eyes, she wanted to hear him laugh and ask him silly questions, and kiss him just for the sake of it…

"That sounds perfect."

* * *

><p>They found the house empty when they finally made their way down stairs. Damon got out the ingredients for pancakes while Elena sat on the counter chatting away about silly every day things. Damon found himself smiling at the simple moment. He mentally burned the image into his memory, knowing that he might not get many more moments like these in his life. The sound of Elena's excited voice filled his ears and he forced the heavy thoughts away and focused on her innocent chatter.<p>

They decided to spend the day driving around the countryside and stopping whenever they saw something worth looking at. Elena made them go to a traveling fair and grinned like a little kid when Damon won her a huge stuffed dolphin. Damon on the other hand, insisted they stop at several bars along the way, resulting in Elena feeling a little more than tipsy as they finally headed home in the evening.

They arrived home to a still empty house, and Damon helped a giggling Elena up the stairs. She had her arms looped around his neck and was stumbling over her own feet. Damon couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable she was. After a particularly wobbly stagger, he rolled his eyes and scooped her up into his arms, smiling at her surprised look. She grinned up at him and happily rested her head against his shoulder, breathing in his comforting smell.

"Thank you for today Damon." She murmured. "It was perfect."

He pressed a kiss to her hair as he walked down the landing towards her room. "It was, wasn't it?"

He nudged open her bedroom door and gently laid her down on her bed, instantly missing the feeling of her so close to him. But her arms remained securely wrapped around his neck and she pulled him down with her, until he was resting over her, his weight supported by his arms. He gazed down at her sleepy, trusting eyes and felt a rush of pure emotion for her. She was so perfect, so innocent and gentle, and, for now at least, she was his.

He traced the tips of his fingers gently down the side of her cheek, caressing her soft flawless skin, gently teasing a stray lock of hair that had fallen over her face.

A lump rose to Elena's throat at the painful gentleness of his touch, and moving her hands to his hair she pulled his face down to meet hers. His stubble tickled her chin as their lips met, and she reveled in his masculinity; the strength of every muscle she could feel pressed against her, the possessiveness of his kiss.

Damon soon found himself deepening the kiss, needing more of her, always more. He would never have enough of her, she consumed him, her fire set him alight and her sweetness saved him. There would never be another woman after her, never be another pair of lips that fit his so well, never be another body as perfect as hers, never be another's eyes that could melt him with just one look. She was it for him. And even though he knew it was bound to end tragically, bound to result in them burning up and destroying each other… It was in that moment, surrounded by her sweet scent, her soft touch, lost in her delicious kiss, that he decided once and for all that it was worth it. Whatever happened in the future, wasn't going to dictate their present. He was going to make the most of every moment he had with her. He was going to cherish her and spoil her, and show her how she should be treated, show her everything he had to offer and let himself truly love her. It wouldn't change his plan for his father, he would carry on informing the police of every move, carry on working to get put behind bars, he just wouldn't let it consume him. He wouldn't let that be everything. The cops had been wrong, Elena wasn't a distraction, she was a motivation. He would fight for her and fight hard, he would fight for his freedom, for his redemption, whatever the outcome.

And then, if the time came when it had to end, she would remember him for all the amazing moments, all the moments like this when they would get lost in each other, and all the days like this one when they would spend hours laughing at each other's jokes and singing loudly to the radio. And even though he would inevitably break her heart, he hoped that he would leave her with something precious, something worth remembering.

And so when their lips finally parted, when she pulled him down to lie beside her and curled into his chest, whispering for him to stay with her… He felt lighter somehow. Like a weight had been lifted from his chest. He was finally going to stop fighting it.

* * *

><p><em><strong>I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. I do have a couple of good excuses though! (If it matters.) I was hospitalized after Christmas and have subsequently been in and out of the ER in the last few months. I won't bore you with the details, but it's been a hard time for me. I've also started working on my own original novel! It's a different genre to this, a tragic murder mysterylove story... I'm terrible at writing the fluffy happy stuff so it's not a light read... But if you ever see a book on the shelves by one Serena Gray don't forget to buy it ;) Here's to hoping anyway! **_

_**As for this story, I won't make anymore promises about when it will be updated as that didn't exactly work out last time, but I am trying my best. What I can definitely say is that it will NOT be a three month wait this time. I can promise that!**_

_** Forgive me dear readers, I do appreciate every single one of you, and your reviews are wonderful and inspiring. Thank you so much for all the support. **_

_**- Serena xx**_


	24. Chapter 24

She should have known that her moment of happiness couldn't last. Three weeks passed after their day of fun at the carnival, and every single day was filled with memories Elena never thought she'd get to create. Damon had made it his number one priority to make her happy, to make sure her every need was taken care of, and her every worry was smoothed away. She wasn't sure what had triggered the change in attitude, but she had done as he instructed and forgotten about all the things she should have been thinking about. Like what next? What wasn't he telling her? And so really, she had no one to blame but herself for her shock and horror when reality came barreling through the door early one Monday morning.

She woke to a loud banging on the front door, she felt Damon tense beside her and turned her head to see him open his eyes quickly and sit up abruptly, pulling away from her and hastily getting out of bed. He put some clothes on as she watched, still in that moment between sleep and wakefulness where you're not really sure what's going on. It was the tension in his features that finally got her attention and had her sitting up and wiping the sleep from her eyes, quickly replacing it with worry.

"What's going on?" She asked in a hushed voice.

Damon turned to look at her and quickly did his best to hide his concern behind a gentle smile.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head, before jogging out of the room and down to the front door, where the persistent knocking had momentarily ceased.

Elena briefly considered lying back down and letting sleep take her without worrying herself about whatever Damon was dealing with, but it was really nothing but a fleeting thought. She gave him a few seconds to get ahead before she followed him out onto the landing and to the top of the stairs, there she paused and watched nervously as he opened the door. Her heart stuttered in her chest when she saw the two detectives standing on the doorstep. Damon looked anything but surprised, if anything he looked resigned, as though he was expecting them.

"Damon Salvatore you are under arrest." The taller of the two said briskly, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his belt.

Elena felt like all the air had left the room, the floor tipped slightly and she grabbed the banister to keep herself upright. This could not be happening. She took a few unsteady steps down the stairs, her legs feeling like jello beneath her.

She watched in horror as the cop clicked the cuffs around Damon's wrists and put his hand on his shoulder to take him from her.

"Damon." She barely realized she'd spoken until the three men turned to look at her. She half fell half ran down the rest of the steps towards them, her eyes already swimming with tears.

Damon sighed softly when he saw her, his eyes instantly filling with regret.

"Elena go back upstairs." He said firmly, silently imploring her to just for once do what he says.

She shook her head roughly and made to reach for him, only to find her way blocked by the other detective.

"I'm sorry miss." Was all he said, his arm creating a barrier between her and Damon, who was now being led away towards a waiting car on their front lawn.

"No! Let him go." She yelled at the cop, shoving his arm off her and wiping angrily at the tears that were no dripping from her jaw. "You can't just take him away! What are the charges?" He looked at her with something akin to pity.

"It's part of an ongoing investigation that I'm not at liberty to discuss." He said, his voice never wavering from the formal, no-nonsense tone he'd no doubt been taught to use in this sort of situation.

The rational part of her brain knew that she shouldn't be panicking so much, the Salvatore's were rich; he would make bail, he would probably be back before nightfall. But the part of her that felt like she had spent her whole life looking for him, was blocking the rationality out. Because she'd only truly gotten less than a month to _be _with him, after a lifetime of waiting it wasn't enough. She couldn't bare to watch him be dragged away from her. And so she did the only thing she could think of.

"Giuseppe." She yelled at the top of her voice. "Giuseppe please!" She hoped beyond hope that the sheer desperation in her voice would rouse him from whatever cowardly closet he was hiding in, that maybe it would tug at some string in the hollow tin can he had for a heart.

In the meantime, she took the detective's momentary distraction to duck past him and run out onto the front lawn after Damon. He was watching her, his face a mixture of anger and sorrow, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to lose him. She would do everything within her power to protect him.

"Hey stop." She didn't even bother to glance back as the cop called after her. She just ran the final few steps before slamming into Damon with such force that she almost knocked both him and the detective holding him down.

There was no way she was going to let them take him away from her. Not now, not after everything that had happened. He was the whole world to her. She felt his lips brush against her hair and breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't pushing her away.

"I'm sorry miss, we really have to go." She tightened her grip and buried her face in Damon's shoulder, wishing he wasn't wearing those stupid handcuffs and could wrap his arms around her. He heard Damon murmur something to the cop, but didn't catch what. And then he was whispering in her ear, his warm breath tickling her neck.

"It's going to be ok sweetheart, but you have to let me go now, ok? It's not forever, just for a little bit, I promise."

Her stomach felt as though it was filled with ice, because she knew when he was lying, and he was lying now. And she knew with sudden clarity that if they took him, it wouldn't just be for a little bit, it would be for a long, long time. Whatever they had on him, it was bad, bad enough that he didn't think he'd ever be a free man again. She could see it in his eyes.

A movement in a window in the house from the corner of her eye caught her attention and she raised her tearstained face to see Giuseppe watching the scene from his office upstairs. She caught his eyes and searched for something, anything that would show that he cared, that he'd help. He was as unreadable as always.

"Miss I'm sorry but it's time to go." She felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and forcefully pull her from Damon. She felt a wave of panic rise up within her and acted on instinct, lashing out and struggling with all her might. But her arms were soon pinned painfully at her sides rendering her almost immobile. She let out a scream of frustration and was vaguely aware of someone else yelling, but she couldn't make out who, or what the were saying. She just had to get free, and then make them let Damon go and everything would be fine. She vacantly realized that she was quickly becoming hysterical, but she couldn't find it in her to calm down, the fear of losing Damon was rooted so deep within her heart that she stood no chance of being objective in this situation.

There was a satisfying grunt of pain from her captor when her heel met his shin, but she was rewarded with nothing but a painful squeeze to her ribs.

The shouting had started again, and this time she could hear that it was Damon.

"Let her go! You're hurting her man just let her go."

"Tell her to stop struggling!" Came the quick reply and then Damon was calling her name and she met his unwavering gaze, but didn't stop trying to free herself.

"Elena stop it, you're going to get hurt. Elena please baby stop."

She ignored him, her eyes flicking back to Giuseppe in the window.

"Giuseppe please do something." She yelled at the top of her voice. "He's your _son._ Please I'll do anything." She felt herself go limp as she pleaded with him. And then the world was spinning and she was face down on the grass, with her arms being pulled uncomfortably behind her back. She felt the cool steel of handcuffs being snapped around her own wrists and then rough hands pulling her up again. At least now she was going with him, she thought bitterly.

And then she heard him. As calm and authoritarian as ever, his voice carried across the yard without him even having to raise it.

"You let them go, drop all charges and I'll answer your questions."

Her eyes widened in shock and she turned as much she could, to see Giuseppe walking slowly out of the house, his hands hanging empty by his sides and his face devoid of any emotion. She glanced over at Damon and he looked almost as stunned as she felt.

"You uncuff them, you leave Damon and…the rest of my family alone and I'll come with you." Giuseppe continued.

The silence seemed endless to Elena. She closed her eyes and prayed. She hated Giuseppe. She hated him more than she had ever hated anyone, but he had the chance to save Damon, to save her. He had the chance to save all of them, and if he did that, she would forgive all his sins with no question. She would give anything to have Damon safe from all this. She had never thought that his father had a caring bone in his body, but maybe, deep down his love for his son would be enough. Maybe that barely there connection, would be the thing that changed everything.

"Let em go."

She stared as Giuseppe was cuffed and led to the car, but as she watched Damon have his cuffs unlocked she began to feel dizzy. He'd done it, he'd freed them, he'd saved Damon. And in a sense so had she. For once it wasn't Damon saving her, the eternal damsel in distress, for once she did something that in it's way saved him. She felt a rush of pride, mixed with such sheer relief that she felt her legs give out beneath her.

She expected the cop behind her to yank her painfully up by her arms. But instead, stronger, warmer arms wrapped around her waist, catching her and holding her steady, and then her hands were released and the detective stepped back releasing her into Damon's waiting embrace.

She buried her head in his chest and let out something between a sob and a shaky breath. He held her so close she could barely tell where he began and she ended, and it was perfect. As it should be.

"You crazy, crazy girl." He whispered into her hair.

"I'm sorry." She murmured. "I couldn't let you go."

He pulled back a little, and gently cupped her face, wiping away the streaks her tears had left on her cheeks.

"I'm not going anywhere." He said softly, smiling slightly as he did.

And then his lips were on hers and all was right in the world.

* * *

><p><strong><em>My loyal readers, I owe you so much. Thank you for your support through everything. Check out my profile for an updateexplanation of where I'm at now, with this story and FF in general. _**

**_Love to you all and I hope you don't mind this chapter too much. There was originally going to be more to the story but I want to gear it down now and give you guys the ending you've been waiting so long for. There'll be one more chapter after this and then the epilogue and then after more than two years it will finally be completed! Forgive me._**

**_- Serena_**


	25. Epilogue

Elena had honestly thought it would be as simple as that. The charges against Damon were dropped, Giuseppe was out of their hair, Miranda was taking everything surprisingly well.

Everything seemed like it could finally be okay.

But life isn't that simple.

There was a trial, and a messy one at that. There were days in court and hours in interrogation rooms. Damon was forced to testify against several of his father's associates and as a result, was placed in protective custody for the two months leading up to the trial.

Elena and Miranda were allowed to go with him, of course. But it still wasn't an easy time. Damon was stressed and conflicted over the whole thing, and Elena hated to see him so disturbed. Miranda was, for all her outward serenity, dealing with a lot, and sometimes the weight of it all got to her. But the one constant, the one thing that kept Elena from falling apart, was the fact that she spent every night wrapped in Damon's strong arms, with his soft voice in her ear, telling her that everything would work out in the end.

And it did, really.

Giuseppe was given twenty years, a reduced sentence in reward for the dozens of names he coughed up.

Elena turned eighteen the day after Giuseppe signed divorce papers.

Damon and Elena celebrated her new found legality, and the fact that they were no longer step-siblings, by sleeping together for the first time. And although she'd known she was in love with him before, she'd never felt such an overwhelming amount of love for anyone, than she did for Damon that night.

And all the nights that followed.

After Elena got her acceptance letter to NYU, they went on a road trip to New York to look for apartments. They spent hours in the car, listening to music and taking pictures and laughing so hard they cried. There might also have been a lot of junk food and a fair bit of making out.

They found a beautiful loft a few blocks from her college and they spent the next three years there. Elena studied English and Damon got his first above the law job, as a freelance security consultant. He always said it was the perfect job for him; he got paid for coming up with ways to break into buildings.

Those three years were some of the happiest of her life. There were plenty more to come of course, but there was something about that particular time, and that particular apartment, that she would always remember fondly. They were young and in love and they had the whole world ahead of them. All their troubles had somehow ended up behind them and they felt invincible, as if as long as they were together, they could do anything.

After Elena graduated, they moved to a bigger apartment in Manhattan, and it was there that Damon proposed. It was sort of an accident actually. He'd been carrying the ring around for months, and had come up with an elaborate plan of how he was going to do it. Only to abruptly say 'Marry me?' while lounging in bed with her on a lazy Sunday morning.

She said yes with a huge smile and a few tears.

They were married a year later, on an island in the sun with just a handful of their friends and family. Miranda walked Elena down the aisle, in a simple white dress with flowers in her hair. Damon would never stop denying it, but his first sight of her, looking radiant in white, like the angel she was to him, brought him to tears.

Elena wasn't sure how she ended up being so lucky. She found the love of her life when she was seventeen years old, and despite a rocky start and a lot of obstacles, they somehow managed to stay together through it all.

There was still work to do, of course. They weren't anywhere near the end of their story.

In fact, they'd barely even started.

_Fin._

* * *

><p><em><strong>So there it is! There was so much I wanted to do with this story, and I'm truly sorry it never happened. But I desperately wanted to give it some kind of ending and not leave you guys completely hanging. A lot of us DE writersfans have drifted away over the last year and it's really sad how many of my favorite fics will never be finished for that reason. I didn't want to do that to you guys as you've been so good to me over the years. **_

_**I met a lot of really amazing people in this fandom, and made friends with some truly great writers. And even though a lot of us have lost touch and moved onto other things, y'all always made me feel so welcome and supported and that means the world to me.**_

_**I hope you guys can be happy that this is where this story ends, and accept my apologies for how long it took.**_


End file.
